Press Release

30 June 2025

Local councils to undertake research ahead of finalising proposals for Local Government Reorganisation

Twelve of the 15 councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including Fareham Borough Council, are working together to develop proposals for the new councils that will provide all services to their residents in future.

The government wants to change the current ‘two-tier’ council structure in most of the county, where residents have services delivered by both Hampshire County Council and district or borough councils. Three other areas: Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight; already have single councils, known as unitary authorities, that provide all local services.

Instead, the government has asked councils to propose how they could join their areas together to form new councils that would each be responsible for all local services in that area.

In response, Fareham Borough Council and the other 11 councils have been collaborating on developing options that would work best for their residents, businesses and wider community.

The other councils are Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Hart District Council, Havant Borough Council, Isle of Wight Council, New Forest District Council, Portsmouth City Council, Rushmoor Borough Council, Southampton City Council, Test Valley Borough Council and Winchester City Council.

Together, the councils are working on options that would replace the current 15 councils with four new unitary councils on the mainland, keeping the Isle of Wight as its own unitary council as it currently is.

This approach is based on the evidence they have gathered that this number of councils, delivering all services in the areas they cover, would give the best balance of local decision-making and sustainable size for the total population of over two million people.

It would avoid options for fewer unitary councils that would mean some of them serving well over one million residents.

A key part of this work on the options will be understanding how residents, businesses and community groups feel about the changes and what area they think their future council should cover.

Engagement, through a feedback survey, has been launched across the council areas to gather views to help understand what matters most to people and shape how local councils work in future—so they reflect real places, local identity and culture, priorities, and people.

Cllr Simon Martin, Leader of Fareham Borough Council, said: ‘Although we don’t think Local Government Reorganisation is needed in Fareham, we recognise that it is happening and are working closely with other local authorities in Hampshire to try to get the best outcome for Fareham. We believe there must be four unitary councils in Hampshire, with the Isle of Wight remaining a separate unitary, to ensure councils remain small enough to know their local areas well, but are large enough to benefit from delivering shared services across the new council areas. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have your say on how your council services are delivered, so I would urge you to take this opportunity so we can take all feedback into account before finalising our proposals to Government.’

Each council must decide what they will submit as their preferred option to the government in September.

The survey will run from Monday 30 June until midnight on Sunday 27 July at from www.fareham.gov.uk/ourplaceourfuture.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Customer Enquiries

Tel: 01329 236100
Email: customerservicecentre@fareham.gov.uk

Media Enquiries

The Communications Team
Tel: 01329 824310
Email: publicity@fareham.gov.uk
Fax: 01329 550576

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