Made on 3 June 2026, the Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026 establish a new combined county authority covering Hampshire County Council, Isle of Wight Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council. The new body comes into force on the day after the Regulations are made, but the separate part dealing with mayoral functions does not begin until 8 May 2028. The instrument also creates a transitional accounting arrangement, disapplying the usual statement-of-accounts duty for 2025-26 and resetting the first reporting period to run from commencement to 31 March 2027. (legislation.gov.uk) The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's consultation response records that the statutory consultation ran from 17 February to 13 April 2025 and drew 6,150 responses. In the Regulations, the Secretary of State states that the statutory tests in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 are met and that all four constituent councils have consented. (gov.uk)
Before a mayor is elected, the authority operates through appointed councillors rather than a directly elected figure. Each constituent council appoints one elected member, Hampshire County Council appoints one additional elected member, and each appointment must have a named substitute. The schedule also allows up to five non-constituent and associate members, giving the new body scope to include outside organisations or specialist voices without removing control from the constituent councils. (legislation.gov.uk) The constitution gives the constituent councils strong control in the transitional period. Until the first mayor takes office, the authority must appoint a chair and vice-chair from among its members, and certain decisions require unanimity from all five constituent members. Those protected decisions include the budget, any local transport plan, and changes to the constitution or standing orders. A council-specific safeguard also applies: a decision that creates a financial liability, affects land, or exercises functions in one council's area cannot proceed without that council member's approval. (legislation.gov.uk)
The mayoral layer is built into the settlement now but activated later. The first election is fixed for 4 May 2028, with the first term beginning on 8 May 2028, and later elections then fall every fourth year on the ordinary local election day. From that point, the interim chair and vice-chair arrangements fall away, and the wider statutory framework makes the mayor the chair of the combined county authority. (legislation.gov.uk) The Regulations also allow the mayor to appoint one political adviser as an employee of the authority, with the post treated as politically restricted under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. More importantly for decision-making, from 8 May 2028 the transport planning and grant functions identified in regulation 11 become functions exercisable only by the mayor, even though officers and members of the authority may assist in their discharge. (legislation.gov.uk)
Transport is the main policy transfer in this instrument. Under regulation 8, the authority can exercise the constituent councils' section 63 Transport Act 1985 passenger transport functions across the area, but only concurrently with the councils and only with the consent of each council whose area is affected. That preserves local consent over the use of those powers in a particular place. (legislation.gov.uk) Local transport planning then shifts in two stages. From commencement until 8 May 2028, the authority shares the Transport Act 2000 plan-making functions with the four councils. From 8 May 2028, those functions move to the combined county authority instead of the councils and, under regulation 11, are then exercisable only by the mayor. For transport officers, that creates a transition period for building a single regional planning framework before mayoral control starts. (legislation.gov.uk)
Funding provisions are equally significant. The Regulations give the authority concurrent section 31 grant-making powers in the area, allowing it to allocate grant towards expenditure by constituent councils on highway functions. When it sets those amounts, it must consider whether a council has enough money to discharge its highway duties effectively and what other funding is already available. (legislation.gov.uk) The default cost base still sits with the constituent councils. They must meet the costs of the authority and, unless other resources are used, the costs of mayoral functions as well. Those amounts can be agreed locally, but if there is no agreement they fall back to a population-based split using Statistics Board estimates. Where mayoral expenditure is to be met this way, the mayor must secure prior agreement from the authority before spending is incurred. (legislation.gov.uk)
Outside transport, the instrument gives the authority a narrower but still useful set of concurrent powers. It can participate in crime and disorder information sharing, is treated as a relevant authority for disclosure under section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and is given publication and legal proceedings powers as if it were a local authority. It also receives the constituent councils' general power of competence, but only where that power is being used for economic development and regeneration. (legislation.gov.uk) The schedule keeps committee control tight. Non-constituent and associate members can be appointed, but committee members are treated as non-voting by default unless they are constituent-council members or the authority has specifically resolved to give a non-constituent member a vote on that committee. Allowances for the mayor, deputy mayor, scrutiny members and audit members are permitted only after an independent remuneration panel has reported, and any paid allowance can carry pension consequences. (legislation.gov.uk)
The Explanatory Note says no full regulatory impact assessment has been prepared because the instrument is not expected to impose costs on the business or voluntary sectors, while the public-sector case rests on the prospect of operational efficiencies. In practical terms, the measure mainly changes who takes decisions and how they are funded, rather than creating an immediate new frontline service. Residents are unlikely to see a day-one change in delivery, but councils and transport teams will see a new statutory tier with formal powers across the wider Hampshire and the Solent area. (legislation.gov.uk) For local government officers, the immediate tasks are clear: appoint members and substitutes, settle the constitution and standing orders, agree a budget apportionment method, and prepare for the transfer of transport planning into a single regional structure. The larger constitutional change arrives on 4 May 2028 and 8 May 2028, when the first mayor is elected and the mayor-only powers begin. (legislation.gov.uk)