Local Voices Matter – A Better Way to Reorganise Local Government

Hampshire County Council has published its case for a future of only three, large-scale, councils across the county. Their proposal risks creating remote, oversized councils, cut off from the places and people they serve. Our communities deserve better

Here is what the 12 councils working together across Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth, and the Isle of Wight believe:

1. Local people should shape local decisions

Making councils bigger makes it harder for residents to influence decisions that affect their daily lives, like school places, adult social care, housing, and transport.

2. Biggest does not mean best

Services like social care and special educational needs are already under pressure. Proposing three large councils will not fix that. The evidence shows that larger public authorities do not guarantee better services, and they often feel more distant and harder to access for local people.

3. There is a better way

The councils working together across Hampshire and the Solent are putting forward proposals for five unitary authorities (four on the mainland and one; the Isle of Wight) that are:

• Large enough to succeed, with the capacity to deliver joined-up services and value for money
• Small enough to care, rooted in real places and responsive to the communities they serve

Smaller councils already prove this can work. They deliver high-performing services like waste collection, housing, and local regeneration. They respond quickly to local needs, support diverse communities, and work closely with local businesses, schools and voluntary groups. This is not theory, it is how we work every day.

We already work together at scale when it makes sense; like through Project Integra, our long-standing waste partnership across Hampshire. We collaborate to save money and improve services, without losing the local accountability and flexibility our communities value.

Local identity should count

Real communities are shaped around sense of place and how people actually live, where they travel, learn, work, and access services. This is why we are asking people to tell us about these things and share their views on our three options.

Crucially, Hampshire County Council (HCC)’s own research shows people feel most connected to their immediate neighbourhoods, not large remote councils, and that many fear Local Government Reorganisation will reduce their sense of local identity, weaken local representation, and make services harder to access.

For the services people rely on every day, like roads and travel, local understanding matters. A single, county-wide approach cannot reflect the needs of such a diverse area. Our proposed model allows services to be designed and delivered around real communities, not a one-size-fits-all system.

Local democracy needs more than ‘token localism’

HCC’s plan for district area panels and locality teams within super-sized councils is not enough and risks creating powerless talking shops. Communities need genuine decision-making power at neighbourhood level, with frontline councillors supported to lead and shape local priorities.

We are committed to creating councils that are simpler, stronger, and more local, not just bigger. And we will continue working together to build a future that reflects the people and places of Hampshire and the Solent.

Councillor Lorna Fielker, Leader of Southampton City Council, said: “We believe that the proposals we’re currently asking local people for their feedback on offer the best balance between local decision making and the scale required by Government. Hampshire County Council’s proposal for three mainland councils increases the scale of the councils but reduces the influence of local decision making compared to the options that we and our colleagues are seeking residents’ thoughts about. This is most apparent in the differing opinions in regard to the South West Hampshire area and is why we’re encouraging everyone to tell us what matters to them to help guide the next steps.”