Draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 General Committees

[The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026.

It is, as ever, a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. The draft regulations were laid on 16 March 2026. When referring to the Hampshire and the Solent combined county authority, I will use the term “strategic authority” hereafter, unless there is a reason to be specific.

This Government were elected on a manifesto commitment to widen and deepen devolution across England, and the English devolution White Paper set out our plans to achieve that. Devolution is a critical lever for delivering growth and prosperity, as mayors and local leaders are best placed to take the decisions that benefit local communities. Much of the White Paper has now been taken through Parliament via the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.

The White Paper also launched the devolution priority programme to provide a fast track to establish a new wave of mayoral strategic authorities. In February 2025, following an expressions-of-interest process, we announced six places on that programme, including Hampshire and the Solent. The regulations will establish the strategic authority and provide for mayoral elections. In so doing, they represent substantial progress towards fulfilling our commitment to move power out of Whitehall and back to those who know their areas best.

The Government have worked closely on the regulations with the constituent councils in Hampshire and the Solent. The constituent councils are: Hampshire county council, Isle of Wight council, Portsmouth city council and Southampton city council. All the constituent councils have consented to the making of the regulations, and I personally thank local leaders and their councils for their support in getting us to this point.

If Parliament approves, the regulations will be made under the enabling provisions of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The amendments made to those provisions by the 2026 Act do not apply for the purposes of these regulations because of transitional and saving provisions made in a separate statutory instrument: the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (Transitional and Saving Provisions) (England) Regulations 2026. The strategic authority will be established on the day after the day on which the regulations are made. The inaugural mayoral election is due to take place on 4 May 2028, and the elected mayor will take office on 8 May 2028 for a four-year term.

The regulations provide for the governance arrangements of the strategic authority. Each constituent council appoints one of its elected members to be a member of the strategic authority, with Hampshire county council appointing a further member. The mayor will also be a member once in office. The strategic authority can also appoint non-constituent and associate members to support its work. Each voting member is to have one vote. Before the mayor takes office, there will, by the unanimous request of all constituent authorities, be specific interim governance arrangements for decisions on certain matters, as set out in the regulations. Once the mayor takes office, the vast majority of decisions are to be determined by a simple majority of the members present and voting. That majority must include the mayor, or the deputy mayor acting in place of the mayor.

The regulations provide some functions in relation to transport and economic development, but there is a strong link here with the 2026 Act. On its establishment, the Hampshire and the Solent strategic authority will be classed as a mayoral strategic authority, and the functions reserved for that tier will automatically be conferred. Even before the mayor is in office, the strategic authority will be able to exercise mayoral strategic authority functions, with the exception of those that are reserved specifically for the mayor. That is why the regulations confer fewer functions than previous statutory instruments establishing strategic authorities. The functions that they do confer, which are focused around local transport and economic development, are designed to support the work of the strategic authority before all provisions of the 2026 Act are in force, and to enable it to deliver the benefits of devolution from day one. 

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government consulted on a proposal to establish the strategic authority between 17 February 2025 and 13 April 2025. The purpose of the consultation was to gather evidence and information on the effects of establishing the strategic authority. The consultation was promoted through social media, a communications campaign, a dedicated website, online and in-person events, and the distribution of consultation materials. Responses could be made online, by email or by post.

A summary of responses, which were received from a wide range of stakeholder groups, including members of the public, businesses, councils, universities, the third sector and other bodies, has been published on gov.uk. The Government carefully considered the responses, and on 17 July we confirmed to Parliament that the statutory tests to establish a strategic authority had been met. Subject to the making of the regulations, the strategic authority will receive devolved funding, including for transport and adult skills, capacity funding and a 30-year mayoral investment fund to support local priorities.

The regulations represent clear progress on our mission to widen and deepen devolution in England, and will make it a reality in Hampshire and the Solent. That will empower local leaders to deliver for their communities, improving the lives of, and opportunities for, their residents. I look forward to the debate, and I hope that the Committee will join me in supporting the regulations.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the Opposition spokespeople, the hon. Members for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and for Eastleigh, for their contributions, which were, as ever, helpful and thoughtful. Before we conclude, I will address a couple of their points.

Both Members mentioned local government reorganisation. It is important to say that it does have a purpose. Unitary councils are more effective and able—

[Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Alison McGovern]

I will finish my point. Unitary councils are able join up services and improve how they respond to the needs of residents. The hon. Member for Broxbourne is free to disagree if he so wishes.

[Lewis Cocking]

Will the Minister set out the evidence for her statement that unitary councils perform better?

[Alison McGovern]

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has heard me say this before, but I grew up in the Wirral. Previously, it was one small council operating under Cheshire county council—nobody has ever campaigned to divide our council again. The same is true just down the road, where Cheshire West and Chester council went through the process back in the late 2000s. Once unitarisation happens, it tends to be supported, with limited calls for its reversal. Sadly, we can see the impacts of the two-tier system today, but we have rehearsed that argument many times, so I will not detain the Committee with it.

[David Simmonds]

Let me pick on the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne made about the evidence on performance. People might feel a certain way about such local authorities, but following reorganisation, Cheshire West and Chester council and Cheshire East council, which the Minister just mentioned, both suffered significant problems with Ofsted inspections and Care Quality Commission inspections of children’s and adults’ social care, requiring significant intervention. It was clear that the disruption inherent in reorganisation had been a major factor in the emergence of those problems. The same was true in Somerset, in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, and in a number of other authorities. It would be helpful if the Minister set out the evidence for the performance improvement that she cited.

[Alison McGovern]

I respect the hon. Gentleman and his point, but I will not detain the Committee by debating that topic, which does not relate directly to the regulations. I gently say to him that under the previous Government, a lot of the accountability measures for local authorities were taken away. We will reintroduce an outcomes framework and much more transparency about performance, precisely so that we can guard against the issues that he mentions. Reasonable people can disagree, but I will not detain the Committee any further on that matter.

The hon. Members for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and for Eastleigh both mentioned changing the date of elections. The shadow Minister also mentioned confidence and trust, which we will have to bear in mind when making any further changes.

The hon. Member for Eastleigh asked a couple of specific questions about powers and other things. I will write to her about those matters, if that is okay. She may not be aware, but strictly speaking, the Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Nesil Caliskan), would ordinarily have taken this debate, but unfortunately she is elsewhere in the country today. I will ensure that she responds to the hon. Member’s points. In the meantime, I assure the hon. Member that district councils have been fully involved in the local government reorganisation process, and that we have listened and will continue to listen carefully to their representations.

I will not detain the Committee any longer. We have discussed the issues relating to this topic, as we have done before and will do again. I thank all Committee members for participating in the discussion on this incredibly important matter, and I hope they will join me in supporting the regulations.

Question put and agreed to.