Devolution is the latest “delusion, fantasy and dream” that won’t solve local government finances, the leader of the opposition has said.

Conversations between the 11 districts and boroughs and the three unitary authorities in Hampshire have begun about devolution and local government reorganisation. 

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Nick Adams-King, said that “whatever happens, it has got to be sustainable and has got to ensure that it is long-lasting”.

Cllr Adams-King indicated that on March 20, at an extraordinary full council, they will submit the first report about the devolution proposal of “how that might all look”.

However, the leader of the opposition, Liberal Democrat Keith House, said at this week’s full council meeting that devolution and local reorganisation wouldn’t solve local government finance problems being faced by councils up and down the country – including in Hampshire, where it has been warned the county council could have to declare effective bankruptcy.

Cllr House said that residents have in front a “fake future” called devolution and local government reorganisation” as if “suddenly is going to solve everything”.

He said: “Well, of course it isn’t. It’s the latest chimaera; it’s the latest delusion, the latest fantasy, the latest dream that says this is going to fix things. It isn’t. The ongoing problem of local government finance is only going to be fixed either by new taxation or by government grants coming to local governments to replace the grant that’s been lost over the last 15 years.

“We’re not going to see a quick fix here. All we’re going to do is abolish this council, abolish our districts, abolish the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth councils and replace them with new bodies that will be equally unsustainable. Because if you load the existing budget pressures onto new councils, you’re gonna get the same result. We need to admit it, we need to be saying it, we need to be demanding attention rather than simply saying we’re going to fix this by local government reorganisation.”

Cllr House added that some “modest savings” from reducing the number of councillors and councils might be made, but they’re not going to be “dramatic, nor “anywhere” near to the £200 million he said is needed. 

“It’s an absolute delusion of fantasy, a dream if you think the local government reorganisation and creating the Greatest Southampton or the Greater Portsmouth is something that fixed this stuff – it isn’t,” he added.

Cllr Adams-King stated that the county council will create the new strategic authority and be a constituent member. He also mentioned that as unitary councils are established, they too will be constituent members of the strategic authority and will have a “seat at the table with the Mayor”.

According to Cllr Adams-King, there would be two seats for the county council and one for Southampton, Portsmouth, and the Isle of Wight. 

More information will come in the upcoming public consultation.