A BID by council bosses in Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight to seize more power and money from Whitehall has left the future of Hampshire “hanging in the balance”.
That’s the verdict of Hampshire County Council (HCC) leader Roy Perry, who has defended a consultation that could lead to the biggest shake up of local government for decades.
Devolution could spell the end of East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) as a proposal to create a Hampshire unitary authority is one of several that’s being put forward to residents.
The “mega-unitary” would merge all 11 district councils and the three unitaries into an organisation providing all of their existing services.
Another option is to create a North Hampshire Unitary which includes EHDC and Winchester with the remainder of the county being split into Greater Portsmouth and Southampton areas.
There’s also an option to create either a combined Hampshire authority that includes all 11 district councils and the unitaries, or split them into a Heart of Hampshire and Solent authorities.
The eight-week consultation into the delivery of council services in Hampshire has been prompted by the bid to devolve power from central government to a “Southern Powerhouse”.
It began last week but the move has been slammed by EHDC and four other district councils as they believe the options have been put to residents prematurely.
Cllr Perry said he was “not at all surprised” at their reaction even though they told the Government in February they were prepared to look at a unitary system.
“We’re in a situation where the three unitary authorities have proposed a combined authority for themselves and they’ve gone ahead with a consultation,” said Cllr Perry. “It’s very much the timing that has forced or pushed us into a situation where we have got to think about our set up.
“If the new government minister wants to proceed with devolution then we think it would really help them to know what the people of Hampshire think.
“It could well be a case of if it isn’t broken then let’s not try to change it, but all the time we’re taking money out of the system.
“We’ve put various options forward, asking people what they want, and we’ve discussed the wording and meaning with districts but it’s a consultation by HCC because getting agreements from all the other 11 district councils would have taken time.
“We haven’t made up our minds but I’m determined to let the people have their say.”