GOVERNMENT’S LGR U-TURN COMES AT A REAL COST TO PEOPLE, TAXPAYERS AND LOCAL DEMOCRACY

GOVERNMENT’S LGR U-TURN COMES AT A REAL COST TO PEOPLE, TAXPAYERS AND LOCAL DEMOCRACY

Yesterday, the Government changed its mind yet again over Local Government Reorganisation in Hampshire.

Earlier this year, we were told our existing councils would be replaced by new unitary authorities from 2028, with elections to new “shadow” councils in May 2027.

Now that decision has been withdrawn and the programme put under review.

For East Hampshire, that means we are back to elections for all 43 district council seats next year.

I have always had concerns about Local Government Reorganisation moving decision-making further away from residents and into much larger authorities. But if it was going to happen, I believed the aim should be to create councils large enough to achieve efficiencies and share expertise, while still being small and agile enough to understand and respond to local communities.

That is why, as the East Hampshire Liberal Democrat Group, we supported bringing East Hampshire together with Winchester and Test Valley. It was also the option most strongly supported locally in the public engagement.

The Government chose a different path: a much larger Mid Hampshire authority combining most of East Hampshire with Winchester, Test Valley and the New Forest, while moving Clanfield, Horndean and Rowlands Castle into South East Hampshire.

We had concerns about that model too. But once the decision had been made, the right thing was to focus on making it work.

And I was genuinely encouraged by what followed. Councillors and officers from different councils and political backgrounds began working constructively together. I had been nominated to the Mid Hampshire Joint Committee, with the first public meetings due to begin this month.

Then the Government changed direction again.

That has a real cost.

Local government is not just a set of lines on a map. Behind every reorganisation are thousands of staff wondering what their job will look like, where they will work and whether their role will even exist.

There is a financial cost too. Councils across Hampshire have already committed huge amounts of officer time and public money to preparing for a system which may now never happen.

Some of that work may still prove useful. Much of it may not.

Either way, this is an incredibly expensive way to run government.

There is also a democratic cost. Hampshire has already seen County Council elections postponed, the mayoral election moved and now the planned shadow unitary elections abandoned.

Political parties need time to find, vet and select good candidates, much of it through volunteer effort. Constantly changing the electoral timetable makes that harder and, ultimately, risks reducing the choice available to voters.

I still strongly support genuine devolution. Hampshire needs greater control over transport, skills, regeneration, housing, infrastructure and economic development.

But councils, staff, residents and taxpayers also need clarity and stability.

Whether Local Government Reorganisation comes back out of the filing cabinet in a year or two, or disappears into the back of it for good, who knows.

What we cannot keep doing is spending months preparing for one system, only to be told suddenly to prepare for another.

For East Hampshire, however, one thing is now clear: District Council elections are back on the agenda next year - and that creates a real opportunity for change.

Cllr Emily Young

Group Leader, East Hampshire Lib Dem Councillor Group