Petition - Save Stubbington Study Centre

Thank you for your petition “Save Stubbington Study Centre” which was received on 27th February and 3rd March 2025. Having been checked and verified by the Democratic & Member Services team following the Council’s established process, I confirm that out of a total of 21,467 signatures received, 13,587 were accepted.

Here is a summary of why the 7,880 signatures were not accepted due to not meeting the Scheme’s criteria:

• Duplicate 460
• No address 6
• No Name 3
• Outside HCC service area 7335
• Same handwriting 74
• Fictitious Names 2

Your petition was considered as part of the feedback to the consultation on the re-purposing and closure of Stubbington Study Centre from 1 September 2025 to enable future investment in a specialist secure welfare children's home.

Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet met on 18 March to make a final decision on the proposal for a new specialist secure welfare children’s home on the Stubbington Study Centre site. Following a lengthy discussion, including full consideration of the petition, consultation feedback and recommendations from the local authority’s Hampshire 2050 Select Committee, Cabinet unanimously rejected the proposal.

Following members’ agreement, they will now ask council officers to write to the Department for Education requesting additional time to see whether any new potential sites emerge for their consideration. They will also ask officers to approach other local district and borough councils to explore the availability of any land to potentially accommodate the new home.

As you will know, this proposal has generated exceptionally strong views, and we are grateful to everyone who has taken the time to share their feedback, including those of you that arranged and signed the petition.

I hope that the outcome of the Cabinet decision demonstrates that the local authority has heard and listened to all views received very carefully.

We will now go back to the Government to see whether, and if so how, we can still meet the urgent need for a new specialist children’s home in Hampshire.

Yours sincerely

Cllr Nick Adams-King
Leader
Hampshire County Council