Local Government Reorganisation - public and stakeholder engagement
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Decided on
The Government plans to replace the current two-tier system of county councils and district/borough councils with unitary councils across the country, via a process called Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Existing councils were asked to submit proposals for what this could look like in the Hampshire and the Solent area.
Hampshire County Council, working in partnership with East Hampshire District Council, proposed that Hampshire and the Solent has four councils: three councils on the Hampshire and Solent mainland, and a standalone Isle of Wight council.
To help inform these proposals, public and stakeholder engagement took place in Summer 2025, to understand:
- awareness of plans for LGR in the area
- the importance of different criteria when designing a new council
- any perceived potential benefits or risks of the proposed restructure
- views on how the new councils could be named
Insight summaries
The following range of engagement activities were undertaken, and you can read the key findings of each using the links below.
A public engagement survey, open to anyone to complete online or in other formats, which received around 3,500 responses from individuals, groups, organisations, businesses and democratically elected representatives, across Hampshire and the Solent. You can also see further information in the data report.
A representative sample survey of around 1,100 residents, conducted online and based on the age, gender, and geographical characteristics of people living within the Hampshire and the Solent area.
A survey of young people attending schools within Hampshire and the Solent, which received 343 responses from Year 10 students and 63 from Year 12 students.
Hampshire County Council’s Ethnic Minority Community Researcher Network interviewed 29 people from ethnic minority communities including Asian, Bengali, British African, British Caribbean, Caribbean, Hong Kong Chinese, Indian, Nepalese, Nigerian, Pakistani, Russian, South African mixed race and Ukrainian.
Action Hampshire conducted focus groups with community representatives from across Hampshire, seeking views from communities of interest and geographical communities.
Feedback and engagement sessions for Parish Councils to discuss the specific option being proposed by Hampshire County Council and East Hampshire District Council and the future role of Parish Councils in supporting community empowerment.
How the findings will be used
The insight arising from these activities is being used to support Hampshire County Council and East Hampshire District Council to prepare a final LGR submission to central Government on 26 September 2025.
A final decision on the submission to central Government will be taken by Cabinet.
Central Government will then review proposals for the Hampshire and the Solent area and put forward its preferred option(s) to a full public consultation, which will be open to residents and interested organisations, before deciding on the restructure of local government in Hampshire and the Solent. See the timeline and next steps.