HAMPSHIRE County Council leader Roy Perry has responded to fierce criticism from East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) counterpart Ferris Cowper over cutbacks to frontline services and the county’s decision to consult the public on devolution – the process under which more power will be handed from central to local government.

The ‘Serving Hampshire’ consultation, which runs until September 20, sets out the potential options for how Hampshire County Council and its 11 district and borough councils could change, or be reorganised, to meet the huge challenges they face from ongoing cuts to their funding from central Government – and from rising demand for services such as social care for children and vulnerable adults, from a growing population.

But Mr Cowper has joined with four other councils from the south of the county in “slamming” the consultation, claiming that it has been issued to residents “prematurely” and “without meaningful discussion with local councils it directly impacts”.

Mr Cowper believes EHDC would benefit from being part of a Solent Combined Authority, being championed by the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton unitary authorities, rather than, for example, a unitary authority for Hampshire which would involve the merger of all district councils and the county council into one, which is one of the options being looked at as part of the ‘Serving Hampshire’ consultation.

In flagging up proposed cuts in waste recycling, the mobile library and children’s services, in a statement to the press last week, Mr Cowper said: “This is incredibly embarrassing for the county council which wants to play the lead role in devolution despite councils like our own saying it is not the best way forward.”

Mr Perry, however, is of the opinion that to split the county would damage key county-wide services.

In defending the county council position, Mr Perry explained: “Hampshire County Council, like all councils up and down the country, must find savings due to continued reductions in Government funding. We have committed to achieving these savings while maintaining, as far as we can, the high-performing services we have delivered to residents over many years.

“Hampshire County Council is one of the best run and effective local councils in the country, judged by independent and objective inspectors, and we have consistently listened to residents first, before taking fundamental decisions about how services are delivered. This remains our commitment to the people of Hampshire.”

He continued: “In terms of dealing with waste, the cost is significant, and savings need to be found. Consequently, we’ve renegotiated new contracts, and will be generating income from small businesses who will be able to use our household waste recycling centres, and from charging people outside of Hampshire, so Hampshire taxpayers aren’t footing the bill.

“Nearly 12,000 people told us their priority was to keep all household waste recycling centres open and we listened. They said, given the choice, they would rather keep their local facility open and could live with reduced opening hours. This is what we have delivered.

“The same applies to libraries. The majority of the 9,500 people who responded to our consultation, said they were in favour of stopping the mobile library service, so again this is what we have delivered.

“By creating a new Family Support Service to support the most vulnerable children and families in Hampshire, we are better placed to maintain the quality of support we provide to those most vulnerable in the long term without reliance on static buildings, which we know families use less and less.

“Hampshire residents told us our support to the most vulnerable should remain our priority and this is what we are doing.”

Mr Perry added: “East Hampshire is one of the key areas that is currently benefiting from the county council’s proven scale, capacity and expertise in making huge infrastructure investments to benefit communities across Hampshire.

“We are investing significant sums in the new relief road to support the major regeneration of Whitehill and Bordon. Without county council help, it seems there would have been no way to sensibly or cost-effectively let a single contract to build the whole road. As well as the road, we’ve committed major investment into a new secondary school to serve Whitehill and Bordon – another piece of infrastructure crucial to the overall success of the scheme.

“The county council has an excellent track record in education and we know how important a good school is to any community. We’re prepared to put county taxpayers’ money where we believe it will have the most positive impact on the people who really matter – Hampshire residents – now and in the future.

“Investing in this largely rural part of East Hampshire perfectly illustrates why I believe it would be a mistake to arbitrarily split up the Hampshire area.”

He concluded: “Our consultation on the future structure of local government in Hampshire leaves all options open for residents to decide how local services might be delivered in Hampshire in future, including an option to merge all district councils and the county council into one unitary authority for Hampshire. This could cut council tax and save more than £40m per year without any loss of service, and help offset the cuts in funding that are unavoidable for all parts of the public sector.

“That’s at least £40m every year to protect services to the elderly and vulnerable and to keep our roads running. Naturally, district councils aren’t jumping for joy at the idea.

“But let me be absolutely clear, no decisions have been taken and there are no pre-determined proposals. We want people to tell us what they think, so we can represent their views to Government, before any decisions are made.”

The consultation, to be carried out by independent researchers Ipsos MORI, can be found at 3.hants.gov.uk/servinghampshire.

For a paper copy, e-mail [email protected] or calling 0808 2024 970.