Last month, central Government asked local authorities in parts of the country where councils will be reorganised for their views on whether the elections planned for 7 May should be postponed, to give them capacity to deliver Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) by 2028. Across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Southampton and Portsmouth, LGR will see 15 councils replaced with a smaller number of new unitary councils, delivering all services, like roads, social care, housing, schools, planning and bin collections.
Following a special meeting of Hampshire County Council on Monday, and then its Cabinet today (15 January), the Authority has now written to Government to tell them that the county’s 1.4 million residents should continue to have their say at the polls this year – particularly as central Government already postponed 2025 elections in areas like Hampshire to enable work to go ahead on delivering ‘fast-track’ devolution.
County Council Leader, Councillor Nick Adams-King said: “I have consistently said that the people of Hampshire must be allowed to have their say at the ballot box this year. Elections are vital for local democracy and accountability.
“We know just how complex it will be to deliver LGR in Hampshire. As the largest local authority in the Hampshire and Solent area, responsible for the delivery of the vast proportion of local government services and budgets in the area, we know what’s at stake when it comes to reorganising councils and the services they provide. The potential risks to the most vulnerable children and adults in Hampshire could be catastrophic if LGR is not carried out safely and effectively. We have a duty to ensure that residents remain safe and protected throughout reorganisation, but it will damage democracy and residents’ trust if people are denied a democratic vote this year about the things that matter in their communities, in order for Government’s LGR deadlines to be met.
“LGR will see strong, high-performing essential services broken up and redistributed across Hampshire and the Solent area - things like social care to protect children at risk of abuse or neglect, the complex care of our older residents, as well as the maintenance of our network of over 5,000 miles of roads. This is an inevitable consequence of reorganisation. But any extra capacity to deliver LGR should come from delaying reorganisation, and not at the cost of residents having their say at the ballot box. We have written to Government today to stress these points and reflect the views of the County’s elected representatives. We believe elections should go ahead as planned this year, and if the Government has concerns about councils’ capacity to deliver reorganisation, that LGR should be postponed by at least one year.”
Central Government will make the final decision whether or not elections go ahead.