Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet has today agreed further steps to help protect essential services by changing the way some local services are delivered. These include alterations to the way school and post-16 transport operates, changes to the management and charging arrangements for two older adults’ day services, as well as reductions to highway maintenance, although the latter will, for the most part, be offset by increases in Government grant funding.

These service changes will generate savings of £9.86 million, year on year, contributing to the delivery of a balanced County Council budget for 2025/26.

Commenting, Councillor Nick Adams-King, Leader of Hampshire County Council, said: “Over the past year, we have been working extremely hard to ensure we can afford to provide the essential services local people need, such as children’s and adult social care, and the many other statutory services we are required by law to deliver. While the fundamental changes needed to how councils are funded must still come from central Government – in order to address ongoing national pressures in areas such as social care – our determined efforts to work smarter, embrace innovation, and collaborate closely with our many partner organisations, have meant we are beginning to turn the tide towards managing some of the financial pressures we face more sustainably.

 “Of course, agreeing to savings is never straightforward – especially when these impact the services on which our residents depend. But in the face of rising costs and growing demand, particularly in adult and children’s social care, we have no choice but to make some tough decisions about what we can and cannot afford to do.”

The County Council’s Cabinet has agreed savings in the following areas:

• £4.32 million in Highway Maintenance – reducing Local Authority core funding for annual highway maintenance, while maximising the use of increased Government grant funding where available (for 2025/26, this equates to an extra £3.4 million for structural highway maintenance repairs.) Reductions in this area will not impact other highway maintenance activities such as pothole and road defect repairs, the renewal of road markings, sign and drainage cleaning
• £210,000 in Older Adults’ Day Services – seeking an alternative provider to deliver and develop day services at Chesil Lodge in Winchester and Newman Court in Basingstoke, to support a wider range of needs within the local population, with both services remaining open and operating as normal pending the recruitment of a new provider; and aligning charges to market rates
• £2.55 million in Post-16 Transport Only – focusing the County Council’s resources on those most in need, including by amending the eligibility criteria so that the County Council would only assist Post-16 students with special educational needs or a disability (SEND), and who are from low-income families; seeking a contribution from families to the costs of transport for those who are eligible; supporting SEND students to develop their independent travel skills by introducing mandatory Independent Travel Training (ITT) for some; and requiring parents/carers/responsible adults to act as a Passenger Assistant where reasonable for them to do so. The changes will apply for students starting new courses from September 2026. Transport arrangements approved for students in previous years will remain in place if the student’s circumstances remain the same. The County Council will also retain the ability to award transport outside of the above in exceptional circumstances, assessed on a case-by-case basis
• £2.77 million in both School Transport and Post-16 Transport – using standing capacity on large buses transporting children to mainstream settings in exceptional circumstances; increasing financial contributions from parents towards discretionary transport; prioritising support for public transport season tickets and personal transport budgets over contracted transport where possible and cost effective; using bus pass data to deactivate bus passes on School Transport contracted buses where they are not used.

Councillor Adams-King added: “I would also like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to share their views as part of the consultation on the savings proposals, held earlier this year. The feedback has been invaluable in helping us to understand what matters most to our communities, playing a key role in shaping the decisions we have made today.”

More information about the savings and public consultation are available in the Cabinet Report.