Hampshire County Council saves tips but deep cuts made elsewhere

Plans were to close 12 tips across the county, including Casbrook in Romsey, Alresford in Prospect Road, and Bishop’s Waltham in Claylands Road.

However, on Monday, October 14, Hampshire County Council’s cabinet decided to instead save the tips, with cuts to be made elsewhere to try and fill a £170m shortfall.

These cuts include the removal of almost £600,000 of revenue funding for passenger transport including buses, the termination of six contracts and three grant agreements concerning homelessness support services, and the reduction of £250,000 to spend on library stock.

The cabinet meeting (Image: Chris Atkinson)

READ MORE: County council decides against closing Hampshire tips

Meanwhile, the decision to cut school crossing patrols was deferred for detailed site assessments.

Amendments to the decision to close the tips stated that the council should note progress towards a revised and improved waste recycling system, including the construction of a materials recovery facility in Eastleigh.

Cllr Lulu Bowerman, executive member for highways and waste, said: “As I am sure my cabinet colleagues are aware, this proposal has probably been the most contentious of the consultations this year. We have heard the concerns raised by the many thousands of residents who have contacted us, and we have listened to the debates from the universal services select committee members.

“We recognise that closing some of these sites would leave large areas of the county unserved by conveniently accessible HWRCs, and create additional vehicle journeys and inconvenience. The increase in fly-tipping has also been raised.”

Cllr Bowerman went on to say that the county council has plans for the future of recycling in the county,  as well as aspirations to work towards a Hampshire waste partnership with district and borough councils, saying: “It is best to keep our options open in regards to waste collection and disposal, and create flexibility in our systems.”

The cabinet voted to keep the tips open, with Winchester MP Danny Chambers celebrating the news.

He said: “We’re so blessed here in Winchester and the Meon Valley with access to beautiful countryside. If we’re to have any hope of preventing fly-tipping and keeping our natural environment clean, these services need to remain in place. It’s all thanks to the Liberal Democrat councillors and the thousands of local people who signed petitions, wrote letters, and attended protests that these tips were saved.

Keeping these services will be far more cost effective in the long-run, so we must ensure the decision today is not merely a delay, but a permanent decision to take a different approach.”

However, other proposed cuts were not avoided, with the cabinet electing to cut revenue funding of £597,000 from passenger transport provision across the county.

This includes £157,000 per annum from Connect: Taxi-share services, £262,000 per annum from supported local bus services, and £168,000 per annum from other passenger transport services.

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The decision to cut public transport funding has been a controversial one, with Stuart Jones from Hampshire Bus Enhanced Partnership Forum calling for the plans to be turned down.

He said: “I understand the scrutiny committee has also called out the serious risk of social impacts, even with the revised proposals, and this impact was clearly called out in the consultation response.

“The proposals in front of you today have consequences that are not called out or analysed in the appendix. I am therefore asking you to pause these cuts and do a proper analysis.

“Some of the cuts affect services that are in communities the most affected by local authority planning. There are a couple of examples; the 61 from Colden Common and the 20 in Wickham. Both have relatively good use, compared to others, and both are relatively low-cost per passenger compared with other services.

“The impact on the local authority plans and the challenges that will come at the district level surely outweigh the savings on these services.”

Despite the arguments against it, the cabinet agreed to the cuts, as well as to approve a revised approach where both community transport and school transport are jointly commissioned and delivered together, with it estimated that this would generate a further saving of £500,000 per year for the council.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has also agreed to give six months-notice to end its contracts and grant agreements with homelessness support services across the county, continuing its payments until the contracts expire on March 31, 2026. The cabinet also agreed that anyone using county council-funded homelessness support services who would be impacted either now or in the future by the decision has access to a Care Act assessment.

Cllr Nick Adams-King, leader of the cabinet, said: “I think it is clear that housing and homelessness is a function of the district and borough (councils), and as a consequence of that it is something that, long-term, it is not an area that the county council can continue to support unless our funding situation changes.

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“That is a regret to us all, but at the end of the day, it is where we are. But to make the change now, for next March, seems to me to be equally disproportionate. We are taking the first steps looking at ways by which we can help the people who are in care”.

School crossing patrols have been saved from the axe for the moment, with the decision being deferred until further site assessments can be completed.

While discussing the proposals, the cabinet noted that, while patrols are a nice thing for the local communities, there are several patrol positions across the county that have not been filled for several years, with “hard crossings” such as zebra or pelican crossings being considered in their place.

Other cuts decided by HCC cabinet included the cutting of £250,000 per year for library stock, the reduction of £7.5m from the highways maintenance budget, the reduction of £1m from highways winter services and the cutting of several competitive one-off grants and the reduction of £600,000 to the annual grant given to Hampshire Cultural Trust.