The government has unexpectedly announced that it has withdrawn the Local Government Reorganisation decision made in March for Hampshire.
This decision would have seen Hart District Council join with Basingstoke and Deane and Rushmoor Borough Councils to form one unitary authority to cover north Hampshire, incorporating Hampshire County Council services.
The government has said that this decision follows legal advice and that it will allow it to review the evidence and consider how proposals for local government reorganisation meet the new government’s ambitions and priorities.
This decision follows over 20 months of work from Hart District Council and all other local councils in Hampshire to prepare proposals for reorganisation and begin to work towards forming the new unitary councils for the region.
It is disappointing that this announcement came without warning while work was continuing to move forward the new councils indicated in the decision. We will now review the detail of the ministerial statement and seek answers on what this means for the future of local councils.
We will provide further updates when they are available to us.