Our initial response to Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation proposals for Southampton

On 16 December 2024 the Government published a Devolution White Paper and announced its plans to have Strategic Authorities, with elected Mayors, over the whole country. This is linked with a desire to change radically the structure of local government. The government wants to merge councils to form Unitary Authorities which manage all council services for a population of at least 500,000 people.

The future for Southampton City Council

This would see Hampshire County Council and its district/borough authorities restructured. Southampton City Council (SCC) is already a Unitary Authority, but the plans would mean it would have to merge with areas currently in neighbouring authorities.

In future Southampton’s ‘local government mix’ could include a Strategic Authority with an elected Mayor covering the whole of Hampshire and a ‘greater Southampton’ Unitary Authority.

The SCC Cabinet meets on 7 January to recommend:

• submitting, with the agreement of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, and Portsmouth a joint expression of interest to be included on the priority programme for devolution.
• working with Councils across the region to develop proposals that reflect the geography of Unitary authorities across Hampshire and the Solent.
• reporting further to Cabinet and Council as proposals are developed.

Southampton Liberal Democrats' views

The Liberal Democrat Group on SCC, in consultation with members and the local party executive, makes the following observations.

Public consultation

We are very concerned by the way in which the process is being handled. There has been very little time to review proposals or consult with citizens. It is vital that any changes in the way we are governed have the consent of those being governed. A participative process is vital if these proposals are to succeed.

Devolution

As Liberal Democrats we support the principle of devolving powers away from Westminster to regions and communities.

We believe that there is merit in being included on the priority programme for devolution. However, we have a number of concerns ahead of plans being developed for the creation of a strategic authority with an elected mayor.

We need to ensure that there is clarity on the devolved policy responsibilities for the new strategic authority. Current plans indicate a valuable emphasis on infrastructure, transport, economic development and reducing inequality, but there is a lack of clarity on areas including health and adult social care, and climate change, all of which could be usefully handled at a regional level.

We need to see greater clarity on the Mayor’s decision making powers. If power is to be devolved from Westminster then the right balance between the mayor and the constituent authorities needs to be found. Too much power should not be invested in one individual. In addition, if the constituent authorities were to be very different in size then they need to be represented fairly.

How the mayor is elected. We think it is important that the mayor needs to receive majority support in an election. As such, the Alternative Vote system would be suitable. Simple ‘First Past the Post’ would be totally inappropriate. Another related factor here is that of voter engagement; in devolving powers to Mayors citizens the Government needs to ensure that people feel engaged with the process and compelled to vote.

Local Government Reorganisation

Here we also see some potential benefits for Southampton. Not least because in its current form, the financial viability of Southampton City Council in the long term is not guaranteed.

However, we also have several concerns.

There is a risk that the creation of a greater ‘Southampton Unitary Authority’ could result in the gap that exists between the actual communities with which people identify and the ‘local council’ growing. SCC would no longer exist in its current form. This has implications for local decision-making and it’s likely to mean 800 years of local government history come to an end as a separate town/city. Neighbouring areas have parish or town councils, which maintain some decision-making in local communities. This is absent in the area covered by Southampton City Council. 

We therefore request that SCC urgently seeks a Community Governance Review to examine opportunities to retain some local decision-making within the current city boundaries, particularly in discretionary policy areas.This could be a way to retain public ownership of assets for the benefit of the community. We also seek clarity on whether the city would be able to maintain its Lord Mayor.

Community is an important Liberal principle. With this in mind we need to think about the communities in neighbouring authorities and how they relate to Southampton. What is Southampton’s ‘natural community’ and what would be suitable for the creation of a new Unitary Authority? A merger with, for example, the entirety of New Forest District Council and/or Test Valley Borough Council, would bring very disparate areas together and not be suitable.There should be flexibility to identify natural communities from the constituent parts of district/borough councils so that communities with close economic ties to Southampton could join us.

To guarantee fair representation and enable good governance we would recommend that any new unitary authority is elected from multi-member constituencies by Single Transferable Vote.