Final decisions due on Hampshire County Council future services

Final decisions will be made on 14 October on the future of 13 local services delivered by Hampshire County Council as part of a package of savings proposals spanning areas including household waste recycling centres, road maintenance, homelessness support, street lighting and library stocks

Oct 4 2024

The County Council’s Cabinet will be asked to consider recommendations that have taken a year of careful and considered work to reach their final deliberation point. Last autumn, the County Council developed its overall savings strategy to 2025/26 to address an annual budget gap originally estimated to be £132 million from April 2025 onwards. The Council has since consulted with the public on savings proposals this New Year and spring; analysed residents’ feedback; and has undertaken this autumn important democratic scrutiny of final recommendations and the potential impacts of proposals should they go ahead. If accepted by Cabinet later this month the recommendations could deliver over £16 million in budget savings towards an overall annual budget shortfall which is now projected to have increased up to at least £175 million because demand and costs have continued to rise so much more than anticipated in children’s and adults’ social care, special educational needs and school transport – an issue which many other councils nationally are also currently facing. 

Therefore, a combination of measures will be required to help address the budget gap so that the County Council can live within its means and prioritise providing the essentials when serving the people of Hampshire. The Authority continues to look at all opportunities to drive down costs across all areas, including a focus on delivering just core services in future, working differently and more efficiently across all services, streamlining back-office functions and business structures, generating income, and sharing resources with other public sector organisations, as well as disposing of land and buildings the local authority no longer needs. Financial reserves, which have been set aside specifically to help address budget shortfalls do also help to buy some time, but they are insufficient to keep plugging the gaps in future.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Nick Adams-King said: “The financial challenges faced by the County Council in future years are considerable, as our costs keep rising through inflation, and demand for vital social care for vulnerable children and adults continues to increase. This is a position faced by many councils up and down the country as local government funding has simply not kept pace with the growing numbers of children who need protecting from harm, abuse or neglect; school transport for children with disabilities and additional needs; and many more adults and older people with complex care needs and disabilities. The significant financial pressures we face are nothing new, but the costs are however accelerating at a faster pace than could have been previously anticipated.

“My Cabinet colleagues and I are determined to address our financial challenges head-on for the benefit of Hampshire’s residents. I remain optimistic for Hampshire’s future, and we have been proactive at every step in exploring all possible solutions to addressing the task at hand, so that the County Council can keep balancing the books after April next year, which we must also do by law. 

“We have listened very carefully to the public’s feedback from our Future Services Consultation, and the strength of feeling and concern amongst many residents, partners and stakeholders around some of the proposals that were put forward. My Cabinet colleagues and I will be giving full consideration to the consultation responses, the impact of the proposals on the public and the recommendations of Select Committees, when we meet on 14 October to make final decisions to help address the very challenging financial position of the Council now and into the future.”

View the Cabinet report and savings recommendations.