The Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026, made on 3 June 2026, create a new combined county authority covering Hampshire County Council, Isle of Wight Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council. In practical terms, the instrument establishes a statutory regional body to hold specified transport, grant-making, economic development and governance functions across the area. The preamble records that the Secretary of State considered the tests in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 to be met, carried out a public consultation, secured the consent of all four constituent councils and laid a report before Parliament. A draft of the instrument was approved by both Houses, which means this is not a voluntary partnership arrangement but a new legal authority created through secondary legislation.
Most of the Regulations come into force on the day after they were made. The exception is Part 5, which contains the mayoral functions and does not commence until 8 May 2028. The instrument also extends to England and Wales in formal legal terms, although the operating area is confined to the four English council areas named in the Regulations. There is also a technical but important accounting provision. The requirement to prepare a statement of accounts is disapplied for the financial year beginning 1 April 2025 and modified for 2026-27 so that the new authority reports only for the period from the day after the Regulations were made to 31 March 2027. In plain terms, that prevents a full-year accounting requirement being imposed on an authority that did not yet exist.
The new body is constituted as a corporate authority under the name Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority. Each constituent council must appoint one elected member, and Hampshire County Council must appoint one additional elected member, producing five constituent members in total. Each of those members must also have a named substitute, so the authority can continue to operate when an appointed member is absent. The Schedule permits up to five non-constituent members and associate members. Before the first mayor takes office, the authority must appoint a chair and vice-chair from among its members. Those offices are temporary and fall away at the end of the day before the first mayoral term begins, reflecting the wider statutory rule that the mayor then chairs the authority.
The voting rules are designed to give the constituent councils a high degree of control during the transition period. Before 8 May 2028, no business can be transacted unless the chair, or vice-chair acting in that role, and three constituent members are present. The budget, any local transport plan, the constitution and standing orders, and any other plans designated in the authority's own rules all require a unanimous vote of the five constituent members. There is a further local protection. No decision may be taken without the approval of the affected council's appointed member where it creates a financial liability for that council, affects land in that council's area or results in the exercise of functions in that area. After the mayor takes office, the quorum changes: the mayor, or deputy mayor acting in the mayor's place, must be present alongside at least four constituent members, decisions are taken by simple majority, and a tied vote is treated as not carried.
The Regulations establish a directly elected mayor for the area, with the first election set for 4 May 2028. The first term begins on 8 May 2028, and subsequent elections are to be held every fourth year on the ordinary local election day. The instrument also sets out how the start and end of a mayoral term are adjusted if the relevant day would otherwise fall on a weekend, bank holiday or day of public mourning. The mayor may appoint one political adviser as an employee of the combined county authority, but the appointment cannot outlast the mayoral term under which it was made. The post is treated as politically restricted. The Regulations also allow the mayor to enter into joint discharge arrangements with the combined county authority, the constituent councils and other local authorities for the functions reserved to the mayor.
The most substantial transfer in the instrument concerns transport. Functions under section 63 of the Transport Act 1985, relating to passenger transport in areas outside the older integrated transport structures, become exercisable by the combined county authority concurrently with the constituent councils. However, the authority cannot exercise those functions in a council's area without that council's consent. The same staged approach applies to local transport planning. Until 8 May 2028, the combined county authority may exercise the Transport Act 2000 functions on local transport plans and related strategies alongside the constituent councils. From 8 May 2028, those functions move to the combined county authority instead of the councils, and they then fall within the set of general functions exercisable only by the mayor. In practice, the Regulations create a transition period for shared transport planning before a single elected office-holder takes control of the strategic brief.
The instrument also gives the combined county authority a version of the section 31 grant power under the Local Government Act 2003, exercisable concurrently with a Minister of the Crown. That enables the authority to pay grants towards expenditure by constituent councils on their highway functions. Where it does so, it must consider whether the receiving council has enough funding to discharge those duties effectively and must take account of any other funding sources already available. Funding of the authority itself remains anchored in the four councils. The constituent councils must meet the costs reasonably attributable to the authority's functions and, unless the mayor uses other resources, the costs of mayoral functions as well. Those costs are to be shared by agreement or, failing agreement, by population share using Statistics Board estimates. Where mayoral expenditure is to be met from council contributions, it must be agreed in advance with the authority, which is a clear check on spending.
Outside transport, the Regulations confer a narrower but still important set of additional powers. The combined county authority gains concurrent information-sharing functions under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, is treated as a relevant authority for disclosure purposes, and is given powers equivalent to a local authority to publish information and conduct legal proceedings. It also gains the constituent councils' general power of competence under the Localism Act 2011, but only where that power is being used for economic development and regeneration. The Schedule completes the governance model by restricting most allowances unless supported by an independent remuneration panel and by allowing pension treatment for certain office-holders. The explanatory note states that no full regulatory impact assessment was prepared because no cost impact on business or the voluntary sector was expected. For the public sector, the intended effect is a new strategic layer of decision-making across Hampshire and the Solent, with transport planning and selected funding powers moving first and a directly elected mayor following on 8 May 2028.