Hampshire's councils will still be reorganised, but new councils now start on 1 April 2029. A decision on Test Valley's future is due by early 2027.
Test Valley Borough Council is still going to be replaced, but not before 1 April 2029. That is a year later than the date in the plan the government withdrew in September.
The government confirmed on Thursday 29 October that reorganisation will go ahead across England. It has not yet decided what Hampshire’s new councils will look like. A decision is promised by early next year.
The timetable is in a letter from Jim McMahon, the Minister for Local Government, to the councils still under review. Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton are one of those areas.
What the letter says
For Hampshire and the other areas still under review:
- May 2027: elections go ahead to the existing councils, so Test Valley holds an ordinary borough election
- May 2028: elections to the new councils
- 1 April 2029: vesting day, when the new councils take over
The letter says “no new decisions have been taken” for these areas and that “all options and proposals in your area will remain under consideration”. Some areas will hear by Christmas. Every area will have an outcome “by early next year”.
How we got here
In March the government chose four new all-purpose councils for mainland Hampshire. Andover, Romsey and most of the borough were to join a new Mid Hampshire Council on 1 April 2028. On 7 September that decision was withdrawn while ministers reviewed the whole programme.
The review has now concluded that the programme’s basis “is robust”. The government will judge proposals against the same criteria it set in February 2025. The Mid Hampshire plan is not dead: the letter says every option and proposal for the area remains under consideration.
The money
The letter also covers the cost of the delay. Where new councils had already been announced, the government will pay half of the £900,000 transition support for each new council in the coming weeks, whatever the review decides. Hampshire’s March decision named four mainland councils, which on the letter’s formula means £1.8 million for the area. The letter does not say how that is split between councils.
What Test Valley’s leader said
Councillor Phil North, the leader of Test Valley Borough Council, said in a statement on the council’s website that it was “frustrating that we are still waiting for clarity on the footprint of the future council in our area”.
He said the council wants “a new authority where Test Valley communities are not dominated by a large urban area”. He added that the extra time lets the council press on with “the next phases of town centre regeneration in Andover and Romsey”.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes to your services or your bill yet. Test Valley and Hampshire County Council keep running bins, planning, roads and schools as now. Our council tax page shows who gets what from your bill.
- You vote for Test Valley councillors in May 2027 on the current wards.
- Places on the southern edge of the borough should watch the early 2027 decision most closely. Under the withdrawn plan, Chilworth, Nursling and Rownhams and Valley Park would have joined Southampton and Eastleigh rather than Andover.
- Big decisions keep moving. The council is still taking planning decisions and preparing its Local Plan. Our Andover planning news page tracks them.
We will report the Hampshire decision when it is published.
Sources
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local government reorganisation: review update letters to council leaders, 29 October 2026, the review letter to six areas, for the timetable, the outcome dates and the transition funding.
- Test Valley Borough Council, Test Valley leader responds to government update on local government reorganisation, 29 October 2026, for Councillor North’s statement.
- Our earlier reports on the March decision and its withdrawal, for the four councils and the £900,000 per council figure.
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