Agenda item

Councillor Roy Perry will provide an update on the latest position with Devolution for Hampshire.

Councillor Roy Perry reported that when the Partnership met in December 2015 the Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW) Combined Authority bid was progressing relatively well, with the aim of Hampshire County Council, the Isle of Wight Council, the two Unitary cities, 11 Districts plus two Local Enterprise Partnerships and two National Park Authorities working together to bring the Hampshire and Isle of Wight economy up to the South East average.  In January 2016 on a local visit to Havant to meet with the bid partners, James Wharton MP confirmed that no progress could be made with the HIOW bid unless it embraced adopting a Metro-Mayor.  This requirement was clearly rejected by the HIOW bid partners at a subsequent meeting in Eastleigh.  Mr Wharton has since left the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

A group of five Leaders – Portsmouth City Council and four district councils wrote to the DCLG confirming that they would accept a Mayor and were prepared to look at a Unitary structure for their  area.  Hampshire County Council was not party to this Combined Authority bid.  The Solent  discussion was subsequently extended to include Southampton City Council, the Isle of Wight Council and Eastleigh Borough Council to form a proposed Solent Combined Authority.

Given the important highway and transportation functions together with adult education, such a Combined Authority would have serious and far reaching implications for the functions, services and capacity of Hampshire County Council.  Therefore the County Council subsequently resisted moves to divide the County until such time as the people of Hampshire were consulted.

Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, as is their right as unitary authorities, are proceeding with their separate bid but with a clear indication of their wish to invite southern districts to join.  The remaining districts have developed their own Heart of Hampshire bid and Hampshire County Council commissioned Deloitte to assess the implications.  Deloitte’s have identified potential for a unitary local government model in Hampshire to include a greater role for Town and Parish Councils which has indicated a potential saving of over £40m per annum.

Councillor Perry confirmed that Hampshire County Council’s position throughout has been clear - before any progress is made on far reaching changes that could divide the County, there must be a thorough, independent and objective public consultation so that the people of Hampshire can have their say.  Ipsos Mori had been commissioned to prepare the County Council’s consultation questionnaire.

It was noted that PwC had also been commissioned to prepare an options report by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council in partnership with Hart, New Forest, Rushmoor, Test Valley and Winchester Councils. Partners discussed the timing of the County Council’s consultation, which would go live on 25 July and whether it was possible to wait until the findings of the PwC report were available in the autumn before progressing the consultation.  Councillor Perry reported that as the Solent bid was progressing, delaying the consultation until the autumn would be too late; the County Council therefore felt there was little option but to move forward at this point. 

The content of the County Council’s consultation was also discussed and some concern was expressed that it had not been shared with the Leader’s of district councils.  Councillor Perry confirmed that he was happy to share the draft consultation document with district council Leader’s and would make the necessary arrangements.  It was noted that the status quo is one of the options.

John Coughlan, Chief Executive of Hampshire County Council reported that discussions had been held between the County Council and district partners to see if a shared consultation could be prepared.  However, during the course of these discussions it became clear that there are some difficult and conflicting issues and it was therefore not possible to take a shared consultation forward.  A letter had been sent to the Secretary of State asking that the process be halted and if that was agreed to, the position would be reviewed.  Undeniably the Solent proposals, which were moving apace, has some significant implications for the County Council (paragraph 3.3 of these Minutes refer) which cannot be ignored.

The representative for the Hampshire Voluntary Sector Consortium expressed the view that an outcome that would see Hampshire staying together was preferable and indicated that this sector was happy to be involved in the discussions.

The representative for the Federation of Small Businesses (Wessex) expressed the view that it stands to reason that there must be consultation on how those authorities that may have control of business rates in the future use that money, a matter of great importance to the business community who should not be ignored.  The only authority that was taking action to consult is Hampshire County Council, which is to be commended.

In conclusion, the Chairman confirmed that all the views expressed would be taken account of.