When the Labour Government published its Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024, those of us in the Conservative Cabinet at Hampshire County Council faced a choice. We could either engage in the devolution process, shaping the new local government framework, or we could sit back and wait for the Government to impose devolution on Hampshire as it sees fit.
We have chosen the former route. When it comes to devolution, we feel that Hampshire politicians have the best chance of getting it right. Hampshire is a unique county, with diverse urban and rural communities, and unparalleled heritage and designated landscapes. Leaving devolution to Whitehall mandarins and Labour ministers would potentially be disastrous!
At present, we have County Council and District Councils in Hampshire. Following Devolution, we will have a Mayoral Combined Authority with between 3-5 Unitary Councils below it. I see this devolution process as an opportunity for East Hampshire for three reasons.
Firstly, devolution will lead to more public and private investment in key skills and key parts of the local economy. Hampshire is already strong in many sectors: maritime, IT, aerospace, defence, tourism and leisure. With a bit of co-ordination, we can be truly world-class. We already have outstanding schools and colleges in East Hampshire; devolution will enable those educational establishments to work more closely with employers to ensure that we are training our young people for the workplace of the future.
Secondly, devolution will enable us to put affordable houses in the right place. At present, we face damaging housing targets in East Hampshire which do not recognise the reality that 57% of our district lies within a National Park. This has meant that areas like Alton, Horndean, Ropley and Four Marks face excessive housing under the current system. A strategic authority will be able to look at the county of Hampshire as a whole and prioritise brownfield sites. This is likely to mean that East Hampshire is better protected from over-development.
Thirdly, there is the potential to save money and fix local government finances. The new governance framework will cost less, whilst Devolution will lead to more powers and more funding from Government. In Petersfield, we urgently need funds for our traffic-calming and placemaking projects. We have already developed plans for the Town Centre, Causeway junction and Pulens Lane. We need to get those schemes implemented and then turn our attention to slowing traffic on Winchester Road and Sussex Road. In Liss, we are developing similar improvement plans for the Village Centre. Investment in these projects will improve air quality, improve traffic flow, improve health and wellbeing and boost the local economy.
In East Hampshire we are fortunate to have a high-performing District Council and excellent Town and Parish Councils. We need to ensure that we do not lose our reputation for good services and our close connection with elected representatives. This is undoubtedly going to be a challenge. For the above reasons, I believe it is a challenge which we should meet.
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