The Isle of Wight Council is poised to put forward exceptional circumstances to remain ‘as is’, amid plans for local government reorganisation.
The move aims to preserve the Council’s current structure, reflecting the Island’s unique geography and identity.
Next week councillors will consider an interim report on the progress of local government reorganisation proposals in the area.
Produced collectively by the 15 unitary and district councils covering Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the draft report sets out the guiding principles the councils have agreed should inform the next stage of the process. These include financial sustainability, a clear sense of place and identity, and community feedback and engagement.
The report seeks an early indication from ministers that the Isle of Wight will be granted an exception, allowing it to maintain its status as a separate unitary authority.
If agreed, the interim report will be submitted to the government on 21st March. Further work between the region’s councils will continue over the coming months to develop final proposals.
The government’s reorganisation blueprint aims to establish unitary authorities with populations of at least 500,000. However, the Isle of Wight, with a projected population of 148,000 by 2028, argues that its unique circumstances warrant an exception.
Council leader, Councillor Phil Jordan, explains:
“While we will continue to explore opportunities for shared service arrangements, the submission, drafted in agreement with all local authorities in the Hampshire and Solent area, makes it clear that the Isle of Wight should remain exactly as is, in structure and size.
“For mainland authorities, new boundaries are not yet proposed as there remains work to collate data to assess appropriate boundaries. The Solent, however, creates a natural boundary that makes our situation on the Island unique.
“The cost of delivering services here is inherently higher due to our isolation and detachment from the mainland which, in turn, produces a smaller market size for service delivery. We believe these factors make a strong case for the Isle of Wight to be treated as an exception.
“Additionally, our residents have a distinct cultural identity that does not align naturally with those on the mainland. Our submission will ensure that we present to Government our exceptional circumstances and the firm case that we remain consistent and unchanged in our services delivery on the Island, for the Island and by the Island.”
Full Council will consider the report on Wednesday 19th March, before it is presented to the Cabinet for a decision on Thursday 20th March.
The final proposal for local government reorganisation in Hampshire and the Solent area is to be developed and considered by Full Council later this year before being submitted to government and will include local community and stakeholder engagement.
Give us our vote back then. I don’t see any mention of that, or maybe I missed it Jordan. Give us a chance to vote you lot out. I doubt starmers new nazi party will allow anything you say to go ahead, they have an agenda, and it is not good, they call everyone else far right, but it is in fact him and his party of liars who are the far right party.
If we are living in a democratic country,
our votes would not be stopped!
Sadly democracy does not exist anymore in the
UK
Unique geography and identity, don’t make me laugh!
Lol
The only things unique are as follows :-
Speeding is rife and there are “NO” speed Camera’s on the
Island to “STOP” speeding.
Most expensive green waste charges in the country
One of the most expensive Council taxes in the country.
£2.00 nightly charge to park vehicles along seafronts.
50p to use toilets
Oh and I forgot to mention half of the island smells
of Cannabis
“THAT’S WHAT I CALL UNIQUE”
Bring on devolution and make the island a normal place
not an out of date dinosaur.
At least you don’t have people pulling down their tracksuits, squatting on the curb, shittin’, and walking away. Diversity has recently enriched communities in many areas of the UK. Lovely…
Do mean an out of date dinosaur that doesn’t value diversity and denegrates Pride events?
Comments section proving once again that these two ^^ have no clue what the report is about. They’re stuck on a small loop of a personal narrative which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the topic and clearly have no clue about political machinations or structure to achieve an aim. Clueless. And they vote!!!
No small loop, just the truth that many people
like yourself doesn’t like to hear.
Majority of politicians tell us one thing and do the
opposite, or claim they never said what they said in
the first place.
Lol
And nothing whatsoever to do with the topic in hand! As for truth, I’ve pointed out the disinformation on your cut-and-paste erroneous comments so many times it seems you wouldn’t recognise truth if it bit you in the ass…just keep repeating the lie with no evidence, and one which has no bearing on the news. You might just have squeaked ‘yeah, and coffee’s gone up again’ on an item about school closures. This piece ^^ has nothing to do with green waste, toilets or parking. It’s becoming a Pavlov’s dogs exercise… mention the word ‘council’ in the headline and ding ding, out pops salivated drivel.
If the island was run by the mainland things would
change for the better.
Amuff is Amuff has to comment on everything and he loves educating himself in public with his illiterate rants. Sad little man
I wondered when you would wake up and
open your mouth.
Some people like to rant far too much sometimes though.
Excuse me, we commented on the article, you haven’t, we are still just about allowed free speech in this country. Get off your high horse.
Oh dear, I think our somewhat, shall we politely say, myopic council can finally see the reality of the situation they have put us in. Some of us pointed out this shortcoming but were assured that registering an interest was just that and only that, well they were wrong weren’t they!
Time we had our elections reinstated as their conduct in this affair so far has proven these guys are not up to looking after Islanders best interests.
What reality is that then? ‘Shared service arrangements’ in terms of central government funding for a large area whilst also retaining a measure of difference due to the Solent means…..?
As for the DELAYED elections did you really want to waste more money on an exercise that could be overturned within a few months? Luckily, these ‘guys’ have a far better insight than you, it seems.
Unfortunetley the comments of sunshine indicate his knowledge is sub par at best, if we had an efficient and balanced council run for the benefit of the islanders then most of this arguement would not be taking place , asking for us to stay as is is a cry of desperation by the council who do not wish to,lose their lucrative side hustles, over many years they have shown collectively they are unfit to govern anything.
I entirely undderstand the desire to maintain the Island’s individuality but is the core of this policy not about funding? The reality is that the Island has a disproportionate dependence on Adult Social Care because of the demographics. That burden would be spread across the whole of the new AAuthority under these proposals. I am happy to retain the Island as a separate Unitary Authority but don’t complain about the high level of Council Tax because councils have a statutory duty to provide children’s services and adult social care and these elemets make up 85% of the total budget for most local authorities.