I’m afraid I am talking about money once more in this month’s column. I am unapologetic though – money is something that consumes so many of us, not least those of us in local government.

Earlier this month, the county council’s cabinet considered a range of budget proposals totalling over £80m in ‘savings’.  These aren’t all service cuts, but the majority were.

You may have seen that we concluded that some of these cuts should not go ahead.  

We chose not to remove School Crossing Patrols, and not to close any Household Waste Recycling Centres – ‘tips’ to you and me.  And we chose to continue homelessness support grants for 2025/6 rather than remove them.

In rejecting these cuts it’s necessary to find the money that would otherwise be saved elsewhere. Which is why the new government’s first budget last week was so important. 

We hoped for some funding, and much more importantly we hoped for reform which would allow us to be far more entrepreneurial and direct our resources to the right places as the need arises or employ people in inefficient ways.

Sadly our hopes were dashed. It was a deeply disappointing budget for Hampshire County Council, for local growth and our businesses.

The funding packages announced for local government services were entirely inadequate. In every field, from Adult Social Care through to Special Educational Needs our funding falls short, even before the government’s new revised ‘targeting’ redirects funding to the midlands and the north.

Our budget deficit will remain unless we are given the tools to decide how to spend and raise our money. We should not be forced to operate via government diktat and increased budget ring-fencing or with second-class citizen status while money heads to other areas.

Unless there is comprehensive reform, a new ethos of innovation and a recognition that local authorities are best placed to know how to look after their citizens I fear Hampshire County Council will continue to face huge challenges in the years to come that it will struggle to address. 

The situation right now is challenging but it can be fixed with the approach I have outlined. A failure to reform and give the county council the powers it needs to innovate and decide where to spend the money it raises will mean more pressure until the system breaks.

This will not be the fault of the county council – it is doing everything it can – but it will be the fault of the Government if it does not grasp the nettle and recognise how we are funded and told to operate is often not fit for purpose. 

Finally, I have to say, I am hugely concerned for our farmers, who have been treated terribly by the budget.

As a former small business owner, I am also horrified for those who own their own businesses - they are the backbone of our local economy and must be devastated. 

I think the national insurance tax raid on working people and businesses will be disastrous, not just here in Hampshire, but across the country.

By Nick Adams-King

Leader, Hampshire County Council