Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council discussing proposal to combine with two other councils

Basingstoke and Deane councillors will discuss a proposal to combine the borough council with two other Hampshire councils today (Thursday).

The proposal is a response to the Government’s announcement last year which will see two-tier authorities, as seen in Hampshire, end and new unitary councils created as part of local government reorganisation.

Hampshire is expected to be re-organised into a number of new unitary authorities, and Basingstoke and Deane is making the case that it should form a new unitary with Hart District Council, based in Fleet, and Rushmoor Borough Council, based in Farnborough.

Hampshire councils have until tomorrow (Friday) to submit initial plans and September 26 to submit a full proposal.

Basingstoke and Deane councillors will be discussing the ‘Northern Hampshire’ unitary council proposal at a full council meeting tonight at 6.30pm.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council leader Paul Harvey said: “The only thing that matters is what is in the best interest of the residents of Basingstoke and Deane.

“The Government’s drive to reorganise local councils in our county is going to happen and we have to be the masters of our own destiny.

“We need to shape the final proposals to meet the needs of our residents in the future.

“That means a Northern Hampshire unitary council covering Basingstoke and Deane, Hart and Rushmoor.

“Our economy looks up the M3, not down it.

“A Northern Hampshire council will work for residents and businesses, and we will be stronger together.

“It will provide the size and scale of unitary council the Government is looking for, while still being connected to the communities it will serve.

“We will do everything in our power to resist any proposals that may be made by others that would not meet the needs of the people we serve, weakening their voice.

“That includes a larger Hampshire-wide unitary council.”

Hampshire County Council has worked in collaboration with the local authorities throughout the county to develop the interim plan which will be jointly submitted to the Government on behalf of all 15 councils tomorrow.

No preferred proposal has been recommended to the county council and its cabinet, but three early options for Hampshire’s ‘mainland’ have been evaluated – comprising either two, three or four unitary councils.

The county council has stated that it believes a higher number of unitary councils would not stack up financially as this would “cost the taxpayer more and weaken the financial strength of each individual council”.

Hampshire County Council leader Nick Adams-King said: “Local government reorganisation is not just about the merger of district councils, it includes the redistribution of the responsibilities of the county council; most particularly social care, education, children’s services and highways and waste.

“These services provide the vast proportion of local government services across Hampshire and the Solent, and we must focus on their attendant costs and risks.

“As one of the largest local authorities in the country, serving over 1.4 million residents, we currently deliver 85 per cent of the council services people receive in the Hampshire, including across Hampshire’s schools.

“In considering local government reorganisation for Hampshire as a whole, our overarching objective is to develop financially resilient organisations which can deliver and enable the best possible public services and ultimately the best outcomes for residents and communities.

“Our number one priority is to ensure that whatever local government structure is in place in the years to come, the needs of residents are front and centre of everyone’s thinking.

“It’s our responsibility to ensure that the services we deliver to residents continue to meet the needs of Hampshire’s citizens and are sustainable for years to come – no matter how these services are organised - so that everyone, and in particular those who are most in need, can keep accessing high-performing essential services, like they do today.”