Minutes:
The Mayor referred to recent engagements and then announced his forthcoming charities events. The Mayor then advised that he had written to congratulate the following recipients of King’s Birthday Honours:
Professor Sarah Greer - Vice-Chancellor, University of Winchester. A CBE for Services to higher education.
Julie Dawes - Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. An MBE for services to nursing and the NHS.
James Graham Hatchley of Alresford - lately Deputy Chair and Senior Independent Director at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust. An MBE for services to Fundraising in the NHS.
Wendy Elizabeth Ross of Durley - Lead Practitioner and Child Protection Co-Ordinator at St Christopher's Pre-School, Southampton. An MBE for services to Early Years Education.
Brian Cole of Bishops Waltham - On-Call Firefighter, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service. A BEM for services to the community in Bishops Waltham.
The Leader made three announcements.
The Leader firstly reported that Winchester City Council was the top performing district council in the country for climate change as Climate Emergency UK had recently awarded Winchester City Council a score of 68% for its performance on addressing the climate crisis. The council scored particularly highly in the categories of buildings and heating and planning and land use which included a forecast 96% reduction in the council’s direct carbon emissions. The Leader thanked everyone involved and thanked Councillor Learney for leading the work and for the support of other councillors and cabinet members. He then asked that the Chief Executive thank officers for the great work undertaken in every area of the organisation.
The Leader next announced that the council had received gold accreditation from the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance which was in recognition of the council's significant program of work to improve how it recognises and responds to domestic abuse. This included embedding a victim centred approach to domestic abuse situations throughout council policies and spearheading a local partnership of organisations and staff training regarding responding to domestic abuse situations and creating a network of domestic abuse champions within the organisation. Once again, the Leader asked the Chief Executive to thank the officer team for this achievement.
The Leader then provided an update on proposals for Local Government Reorganisation. Firstly, he advised that the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government had confirmed that the deadline for councils to submit proposals to establish new single-tier unitary authorities would remain as 26 September 2025 and that the councils in Hampshire and Solent were required to submit a proposal for the whole area. The proposal should be built on whole district building blocks and a strong justification must be provided if boundary changes were proposed.
The Leader advised that that 13 Councils including Winchester City Council were working together on a five-council model – the Isle of Wight, plus four mainland unitary authorities. Three options were under evaluation and public engagement was underway. He encouraged everyone to participate, and this engagement has to be reported in the final submission. The Leader detailed each of the three options and reiterated that a strong justification would need to be demonstrated for any boundary changes, including having support from local communities.
Continuing, the Leader then reported that Hampshire County Council and East Hants District Council were now working separately from the other 13 authorities and had proposed a four-council model – the Isle of Wight plus three mainland authorities. He expressed concern as this model would create new councils with significant combined populations that were too big, too remote, and were likely to fail to deliver locally.
The Chief Executive then announced apologies for the meeting.