Alton Town Council (ATC) has responded to the Hampshire consultation on local government reorganisation, which will see the replacement of county and district councils with large unitary councils in 2028.
The town council says that it is “concerned that structural reorganisation into larger unitary councils will reduce the voice of the community in public services and make government more remote. … We would want to see the principles of local democratic mandate and strong community voice embedded within the policies, processes and culture of our new unitary council from the start.”
The town council offers to work with the current county and district councils, and with other parishes, to develop an effective model of community empowerment, based on the “building blocks” of existing parish councils, which already “have a clear statutory and democratic mandate to advocate for their communities and provide services”.
County, district and city councils are due to put their submissions to government in September. The reorganisation is expected to take effect in April 2028 and will replace the current county, district and unitary councils with a few unitary councils, much larger than the current district footprint. A new mayor and strategic authority are expected to be created to cover the whole of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Town and parish councils will not be abolished and will continue to be the most local tier of government.
**ENDS**