Local Government in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

In this page:

This page sets out the current local government arrangements in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Most of the traditional county of Hampshire has a two-tier system of local government, with county and district councils.
Portsmouth and Southampton are not governed by Hampshire County Council. Instead, they have their own ‘unitary’ authorities.
The Isle of Wight also has a unitary local authority.
Councils across the whole area have recently applied for a ‘devolution deal’ that would transfer some powers here from central government.

Local councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Source: www.snipview.com.

Local councils are organised differently in different parts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight:

Most of the traditional county of Hampshire has a two-tier system of local government. It is governed for some local issues by Hampshire County Council, and on other issues by eleven district councils. The district councils are New Forest, Test Valley, Basingstoke & Deane, Rushmoor, Winchester, East Hampshire, Havant, Hart, Eastleigh, Fareham, and Gosport.
The cities of Portsmouth and Southampton are not governed by Hampshire County Council. Instead, they have their own single-tier unitary authorities, which deal with all of the matters that are organised elsewhere by the county and district councils.
The Isle of Wight also has a unitary local authority.

All but one of the councils in the area have a council leader and cabinet responsible for making key decisions. The exception is Gosport, which operates a committee system. The Conservative Party has a majority and runs the cabinet in Hampshire, New Forest, Test Valley, Basingstoke & Deane, Rushmoor, Winchester, East Hampshire, Havant, and Fareham. The Liberal Democrats do the same in Eastleigh, and Labour the same in Southampton. Hart has a Conservative leader and an all-party cabinet; Portsmouth has a Conservative minority cabinet; and the Isle of Wight has a minority cabinet run by the Island Independents party.

What do the councils do?

The councils are responsible for providing a wide range of local services. In some policy areas – such as provision of libraries and leisure centres – they have considerable power to decide the level of the service that they want to provide. In other areas – such as waste collection, education, and social services – they have to meet service standards that are set down by central government.

Other bodies delivering services in the area

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are covered by a single police force, the Hampshire Constabulary. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have separate fire services: the Isle of Wight fire service is part of Isle of Wight Council.

There are eight Clinical Commissioning Groups (the basic building blocks of NHS services), including single ones covering Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

Local councils do not control these various bodies. But they do exert influence on them through a range of boards and partnerships.

Solent LEP. Source: Solent LEP

The area is covered by two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), which are partnerships between councils and local business with a role in promoting economic development:

The Solent LEP covers the Isle of Wight, Southampton, Fareham, Gosport, Portsmouth, and Havant, as well as parts of Eastleigh, Winchester, Test Valley, East Hampshire and New Forest. This area is also covered by the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH), a membership organisation for the relevant local authorities.
The Enterprise M3 LEP covers the remainder of Hampshire, as well as parts of Surrey.

Before 1995, Portsmouth and Southampton were lower-tier councils, existing beneath Hampshire County Council. The Isle of Wight had a single county council and two district councils.

The Isle of Wight and parts of Eastleigh also have another layer of councils below the unitary or district councils. These are called either parish or town councils. They have very limited powers, and there are no such councils at all in the other parts of the Assembly South area.

Devolution for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight?

The current government believes that local councils, particularly in large urban areas, are too small to promote regional government effectively or to deliver the best public services. As part of this, ‘combined authorities’ are being established that link local councils together. These combined authorities receive extra powers from central government.

Initial discussions regarding how to respond to this within Hampshire primarily focused on the Urban South Hampshire area. But this subsequently expanded to cover the whole of the county and the Isle of Wight.

In September 2015, the two LEPs and the local authorities in the area submitted the Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW) devolution prospectus to the government for consideration. This requests the transfer of a range of powers to a HIOW combined authority. It also says that HIOW will consider the election of a mayor for the whole area if its bid is successful.

These proposals form the basis of the first of the reform options to be considered by Assembly South.

Where to from here?

In September 2015, the local authorities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, together with the two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) submitted a ‘devolution prospectus’ to the government.
This prospectus sets out proposals for a ‘devolution deal’ that would involve creating a a combined authority and a mayor for the whole area. These would not take powers from existing councils, but would gain powers from central government.
Further details of Devolution Deals.

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