Hampshire's councils rally together against plan for super authority

A joint statement from the leaders of East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport Havant, Portsmouth and Southampton, says they have concerns over the county’s support for a new unitary authority replacing its current structure.

County council leader Roy Perry backed the plan after it was proposed in a report into how services can be better organised. The statement says: ‘This proposal amounts to localism in reverse.

‘It exceeds the government’s own standards for scale and manageability, is a clear threat to town and parish councils and would further distance our populations from the services they and their communities rely on. Rather than creating a large and unwieldy council for the whole county area, we would prefer to look at bringing existing councils together to work closely to improve outcomes for local people and bring extra powers and resources for the area.’