Purpose

To approve a full proposal for local
government reorganisation in Hampshire and Isle of Wight for submission to
government by 26 September 2025.

 

On 5 February 2025 in a letter
from the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution,
principal Councils in Hampshire and Isle of Wight were required to develop
proposals for reorganisation of local government structures in the area.  The letter set out the timescales and
criteria for developing proposals, with a deadline of 26 September 2025 for
final proposals to be submitted.

 

An interim submission was
prepared and submitted by all 15 Councils in the area, and a wide range of
options were subsequently developed.  As
the case was developed, three Councils opted to withdraw from the joint work,
but the remaining 12 Councils continued to work collaboratively to refine
options and prepare a joint base case proposal for four unitary councils on the
mainland with the Isle of Wight remaining in its current form.

 

This paper provides a summary of
the process undertaken to develop the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
proposal for submission by Fareham Borough Council and other Local Authorities
across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by the deadline of 26 September
2025.  It further seeks approval from the
Executive to submit the proposal in line with Government requirements, with the
preferred option being the option 1A boundary change option (referenced as
option 3 in the published proposal).

Decision

RESOLVED that the Executive:

 

(a)  supports
the base case proposal for local government reorganisation as set out in
Appendix 4 to the report;

 

(b)  agrees
to submit the base case proposal on behalf of Fareham Borough Council and
supports option 1A (option 3 in the published case) but wholly conditional upon
a formal request to Government as part of the Council’s submission to undertake
a modification to permit option 1A as outlined in the proposal documents; and

 

(c)  delegates
authority to the Chief Executive officer, following consultation with the
Executive Leader, to agree minor changes on behalf of the Council, where such minor
changes are considered necessary to ensure legal compliance and accurately
reflects the support of each of the 12 councils.