Issue - meetings

To consider a report of Cabinet providing an update on the Pan Hampshire County Deal.

The Council considered a report of Cabinet providing an update on the Pan- Hampshire County Deal.

In presenting the report, the Leader firstly referred to the Covid update received by Cabinet at their meeting on 8 February (attached as Appendix 1b to the Council report) and the work that had been carried out by the Director of Public Health, which had been first class.

In referring to the Government’s White Paper on Levelling Up, the Leader expressed disappointment, as he had done so in his earlier report, that the County Council had not been one of the Councils chosen for the first wave of pilots.  Members noted that no South-East Councils had been included in the first wave.  However, he remained confident that the work carried out thus far, which had been highly commended by the Government, put the County Council in a strong position going forward.  The Leader drew Members’ attention to the Statement of Common Ground, detailed in Appendix 3 to the report, and referred to the continuing work and direction of travel of a Pan-Hampshire County Deal and aligned devolution opportunities potentially beyond the Pan-Hampshire geography involving bordering areas.

During the ensuing discussion, Members expressed general support for the proposals and the opportunities it offered; highlighted the importance of full Member engagement going forward and welcomed the economic data that was available.  Some concern was raised about the level of resource being spent without any certainty of securing a deal, however the point was made that this work was running in parallel with work already being done in such areas as Regeneration Boards.

RESOLVED:

That the County Council:

a)      Notes the opportunities that were set out in the “Levelling Up the United Kingdom” White Paper.

b)      Endorses the continuing work and direction of travel of a Pan-Hampshire County Deal and aligned devolution opportunities potentially beyond the Pan-Hampshire geography involving bordering areas, as set out in the Cabinet report of 8 February 2022 Learning to live with Covid-19 and working towards Economic Recovery in line with the White Paper.

c)      Endorses the continued work and direction of travel for a Hampshire County Deal, to include the Unitary Authorities should they wish. In addition, that the County Council will continue the work that has been carried out towards the creation of an Economic Prosperity Board which will ideally include Surrey and the Unitary Authorities.