HART District Council has published a report commissioned jointly with five other councils to provide an independent assessment about devolution and the future of local government in the Heart of Hampshire area.

The move was taken after Hampshire County Council (HCC) took all 14 councils in Hampshire by surprise and unilaterally commissioned proposals for local government reorganisation from consultants, Deloittes.

Published by consultants PwC it outlines that the ambition of Hart District Council and the other councils is “to work in partnership with HCC to benefit businesses and residents by agreeing a devolution deal with the government which will attract additional government funding into the Heart of Hampshire area.”

The county council turned to the issue of local government re-organisation after the collapse of their proposals for a county wide devolution deal, something that had been supported and backed by Hart and the other Heart of Hampshire councils. 

The six-council backed independent report makes clear that the principle desire of the Heart of Hampshire councils “is not for re-organisation but to focus efforts on making the existing system work better.”

The councils involved believe it will avoid the upheaval of unnecessary change, as well as its associated costs and disruption to services, and will deliver benefits quicker for local residents and businesses.

It states however that if the local government reorganisation is “foisted upon” the Heart of Hampshire authorities, that there are significantly better solutions than the remote single unitary authority of more than 1.2 million people.

The proposal has been one of the most widely aired options from Hampshire County Council’s report. The PwC report concludes that, if the Heart of Hampshire area does have to undergo local government reorganisation, then two unitary authorities for the area – one covering the north and the other the middle of the county – will give the best chance of achieving the aim of saving a significant amount of money while still providing the optimum balance between economies of scale and local accountability to residents.

Hart District Council leader Stephen Parker said: “Our objectives in commissioning this independent report were about efficiency, effectiveness and better services.

“I am delighted that the report clearly recognises that local government re-organisation would be a wasteful distraction from the task of supporting our local communities and delivering services.  

“Our focus remains on improving services for residents and businesses, and ensuring that they are able to influence decisions around service provision.

“We need to get on and agree devolution deals for each part of Hampshire in partnership with Hampshire County Council. 

“At the moment we are already finding that we are losing out to other areas, which have successfully negotiated devolution deals, when it comes to the allocation of future government funding.”

The report does however recognise that these changes would take time and money, resulting in inevitable disruption to services.

They believe the recommended approach is for improved collaborative working between the tiers of local government in order to provide residents and businesses with ever more seamless and better value services.

This would be carried out while also seeking additional powers and investment through two devolution deals, one covering the Solent councils and the other covering the Heart of Hampshire. HCC would play a critical role in each of the combined authorities which would administer these devolution deals.

Mr Parker added: “A devolution deal is important to us as it will enable us to take local decisions about matters which are currently dealt with by people in central government. It will address local needs and enable services to be managed as close as possible to the people they affect.

“Local government in the county will not change overnight but we must work together to retain high quality services, and improve efficiency and value for money for our residents in the future with reducing local government funding.”

To view the reports or for more information about devolution and the Heart of Hampshire visit www.hart.gov.uk/devolution.