What is happening to Hampshire councils?

Hampshire is set to get new councils under government plans

If you started again with a map of Hampshire and a pen to divide it up, where would you put the lines?

That's the question all the councillors in the county have had to answer this week.

Each of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight's 15 councils have sent a letter to the government with their preference for local government reorganisation.

Under the proposals, Hampshire county and all the district and borough authorities will be abolished and a number of unitary councils created, providing all services in an area.

But views on which areas should be paired together differ widely.

What are the options?

Two councils, Hampshire county and East Hampshire district, back a plan for three mainland councils and the Isle of Wight staying on its own.

Nick Adams King, leader of Hampshire County Council, said he believed that was the best option, adding: "The councils need to be financially resilient and be big enough to leverage savings from their scale, that's how you look after the most vulnerable in society."

Hampshire county and East Hampshire favour three mainland unitary councils

Of the other 13 councils, all but Gosport, back a plan for four mainland authorities and the Isle of Wight staying separate.

Paul Harvey, leader of Basingstoke council, speaks on behalf of the 12 in favour of this plan.

He said: "Local government is about being connected to communities so we support authorities big enough to deliver services and savings but the danger with other proposals is the councils become too big to be connected."

But among the group of 12, there are differing opinions over where the boundaries should be.

Gosport's leader Peter Chegwyn has said he will not getting involved in drawing lines on maps.

"These big councils will be more remote, not local, won't save money, won't provide better government so we're just saying no, think again," he said.

Which boundaries are debated?

Supported by three of the councils (New Forest, Winchester and Test Valley), one option sees four mainland councils with no change in existing boundaries. The Isle of Wight stays on its own.

The New Forest

The New Forest district council backs an option which sees them joined in a mid-Hampshire rural council with Test Valley, East Hampshire and Winchester.

But Southampton and Eastleigh councils want to take certain parishes of the New Forest, Totton, Hythe and Fawley, known as the Waterside villages and join them into a South East council.

In the option suggested by Hampshire and East Hampshire, the whole of the New Forest will be in a large council with Test Valley, Southampton and Eastleigh.

Jill Cleary, leader of New Forest District council, said: "Southampton is a city, we are rural, and all of our surveys of commoners, residents, tenants and business owners show none of them want to join Southampton, they are fearing loss of rural identity."

Alex Winning, leader of Southampton council, disagrees, saying their model was "based on how people actually live, travel, study, work and access services. This is a more modern reflection on how communities have evolved since the 1970s."

This option, supported by only Winchester city council, sees the New Forest paired with Southampton and Eastleigh. Winchester forms a mid-Hampshire council with East Hampshire and Test Valley

Winchester

The question here is do people look north towards Basingstoke and London or south towards Southampton, or do most of the people in the district see themselves living in rural Hampshire? You can find people living and working there who sit in all three camps.

The proposal the city council supports sees them joined with the two other rural councils, Test Valley and East Hampshire, in a mid Hampshire council.

Martin Tod, leader of Winchester, said: "The idea of three authorities and having places like Denmead paired with Aldershot isn't acceptable. We can't support that."

In this option, certain parishes including Totton, Hythe, Denmead and Nursling move to a different area.

Parishes in Test Valley, Winchester and East Hampshire

In an option supported by Fareham, Havant, Southampton, Hart, Rushmoor, Portsmouth and Eastleigh, certain parishes and villages would move to a different council area.

This affects some big residential areas like Horndean, Whiteley, Denmead and North Baddesley, as well as the Waterside villages in the New Forest.

Impact on council staff

Tens of thousands of people work for Hampshire councils, including planners, social workers, rubbish collectors, economic development experts and schools admission staff.

Many of the staff delivering those services will transfer to the new councils but there are likely to be some redundancies.

Unison, the union representing some staff, said it was concerned about up-front costs of reorganisation when council budgets are so tight.

The union's regional organiser for Hampshire, Louise Barter, said it was "hard to see how councils can shoulder the cost of complex reforms when demand for social care, children's services and housing is soaring".

She said it raised "real concerns for thousands of council staff and the vital services that local communities – especially the most vulnerable – depend on".

Ms Barter added: "Any reorganisation in Hampshire must be properly funded by central government.

"It should also protect workers' jobs and pensions, and have the backing of both residents and staff."

Next steps

The letters sent to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will be assessed and options then put to a public consultation, likely in November.

The government is expected to announce the final structure early next year, with elections held in May 2027 and new authorities up and running by May 2028.