GEORGE Osborne’s “devolution revolution” appears to have hit rocky ground – not least in Hampshire where the county is split between those who support the creation of a Solent Combined Authority and those who appear to want no part of it.

While the Chancellor’s hope was to announce a fully-fledged proposal for Hampshire in the March Budget, this failure to agree has led to a call by Hampshire County Council for a “devolution rethink”.

According to county council leader Roy Perry, having worked hard to develop a devolution deal for the whole county, at virtually the last minute the Government insisted that no deal would be possible without a directly-elected mayor at its head – and the county council for one was strongly opposed to a single person carrying so much individual power over what is such a vast and diverse area.

It is an issue that has split the county and caused the Solent authorities to develop a separate proposal.

While it is a deal that currently excludes the county council, as well as parts of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership area of Winchester, Test Valley and theNew Forest, it is one that East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has bought into.

In a statement on Tuesday, Donna Jones, leader of Portsmouth City Council, confirmed the conclusion of negotiations with HM Treasury to achieve a Solent devolution deal which was to include eight councils, including EHDC which has been working in partnership with Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport and Havant borough councils, the Isle of Wight Council and Portsmouth and Southampton city councils to form a devolution deal with the Government.

The deal, she says, would lead to more money being spent in the Solent region to improve roads and infrastructure, with a directly-elected mayor attracting additional funding to invest in economic growth and housing, devolved responsibility for strategic planning, increasing business productivity, job creation, improvements to adult education and training, a dedicated transport budget, provision of franchised bus services, maintenance of a key route network of local authority roads, and homes delivery.

It would also see the region take control of its own financial future by keeping all business rates generated in the area in return for stepping away from existing government funding for local councils, allowing the area better control of its financial future.

EHDC leader Ferris Cowper said the county council-led Hampshire and Isle of Wight devolution bid had failed because the majority of leaders chose not to sign up to it and it was withdrawn. “In fact, the Government has encouraged Hampshire County Council to join the Solent Combined Authority bid so that its skills can be readily deployed in this vital economic engine room of the county,” said Mr Cowper, who describes the Solent concept as “quite complex”.

While each of the leaders involved would probably have different reasons for preferring the Solent bid over the defunct county bid, Mr Cowper’s reasons remain clear – democracy, housing scale and economic focus. The democratic point is key and distinguished by the unanimous agreement of all eight leaders to opt for the appointment of a “constrained mayor”.

Rather than adopting the standard Government model for a directly-elected mayor, which gives the mayor complete power over the authorities involved, relegating the mayor’s cabinet to a volunteer advisory body, the Solent Combined Authority constrained mayor arrangement would give the cabinet executive power.

In almost all cases, the mayor’s powers would be curtailed by a two-thirds majority cabinet vote, and in the case of housing numbers every member of the cabinet would have a veto.

“This constrained model offers far greater assurance to the residents, businesses and volunteer groups in East Hampshire that the increased centralisation and geographical remoteness of the new mayor will not bring about insensitive or inappropriate decisions to our local communities,” said Mr Cowper, who believes that the smaller Solent Combined Authority area will be more manageable in terms of scale and would guarantee a cabinet place for every leader of the constituent councils.

On housing, while the defunct Hampshire & Isle of Wight bid had featured new layers of bureaucracy, including a housing delivery noard “that could alter any and all of the local plans”, the Solent Combined Authority bid will, according to Mr Cowper, respect the sovereignty of each council’s local plan and its right to deliver it as written.

On the economy, Mr Cowper said that because of the tighter geography “our bid maps well to a defined area of powerful economic focus, The Solent”.

In East Hampshire, the Whitehill and Bordon project has significant synergies with Fareham’s Welborne. The district’s main road infrastructure is the gateway for Portsmouth to gain road access to London and the M25 and EHDC already has significant links with Havant borough.

“Looking at the Solent opportunity holistically, it offers a far superior opportunity to develop our much-publicised and nationally renowned strategy for complete financial independence with the opening up of the Solent area to our growing businesses and, of course, to the business aspects of our council,” said Mr Cowper.

“The bid offers all of us the opportunity to accelerate our vision of a new, financially robust model of local government in Britain.

“I’m certain the Solent Combined Authority bid is overwhelmingly the best for everyone in East Hampshire.”