The English Devolution White Paper was published in December 2024 and sets out the Government’s plans for Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation across the country.

• Read the Government’s White Paper

On 5 February 2025, the Secretary of State wrote to all councils in Hampshire to formally invite proposals for forming new, larger unitary councils within the Hampshire and Solent region instead of the current structure of a County Council and District and Borough Councils. In it it said the Government would like councils to have populations of around 500,000 - and each new unitary council would offer all services that are currently provided across the district council and the county council.

On 7 May 2025, the Government wrote to all councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with feedback on our interim plan.

The District Councils’ Network has produced an analysis of the performance of existing unitary councils based on their size.

• Download the Summary

• Download the full analysis

The Local Government Association (LGA) has some useful information on their website including some frequently asked questions.