Purpose

The Leader, on behalf of the Council, has
prepared a full response to the government’s consultation on
local government reorganisation.

Decision

On 9 January 2026, Cllr Jill Cleary, Leader
made the following decision:

1. That the Leader approves the New Forest District Council
consultation response for Hampshire and the Solent local government
reorganisation (Appendix 1).

2. That the Leader delegates authority to the Chief Executive to
make any minor drafting, formatting or corrections to the response
prior to submission to MHCLG.

3. That the Leader delegates authority to the Chief Executive to
further submit the response via the government’s online
portal.

The decision is not subject to Call-In as both the Monitoring
Officer and the Chief Executive are satisfied that it must be
implemented urgently. Details of the document the Leader considered
are attached below.

Reasons for the decision

The recommendations enable the Council to
submit a clear, evidence-based response that best represents the
Council’s position, informed by stakeholders, businesses and
residents’ interests as part of local government
reorganisation.

Alternative options considered

See report.