The council said this is necessary to align with its legal duties and manage the growing demand for vital services, like social care for vulnerable children and adults.
This follows the council’s call for government support, which, according to the council, has not yet been met.
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Cllr Nick Adams-King, leader of Hampshire County Council, said: “Hampshire has always been a well-run council, and we have been successful in making over £0.75 billion of savings over the past decade, by transforming how we work, and being more efficient, innovative and commercial in our approach to delivering services.
“But, since 2018, we have been highlighting that our budget pressures simply cannot be met by constantly reducing services.”
The council says the demand for social care and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities continues to soar, and the budget cannot keep pace.
In response, the council has asked the government for financial help, changes to the law, and additional funding for local government.
However, these have not yet been implemented.
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To ensure the best possible decisions are made, the council enlisted an independent panel of experts last year to challenge and support them.
The panel’s findings will be provided in a written report in the coming weeks.
Cllr Adams-King added: “Reassuringly, we do have enough reserves to balance the budget for 2025/26, but that does not offer a long-term solution.
“So, for now, we have no other choice than to explore how we can make deeper savings throughout the next year which would aim to scale back local services to our core duties.”
The council will also consider opportunities arising from the government’s devolution and local government reorganisation plans.
The final decision on the council’s budget for 2025/26 and proposals for future savings will be made by the full county council on Thursday, February 13.
The council has highlighted key cost and demand pressures in its social care services.
This includes a 30 per cent increase in care for vulnerable children since the pandemic, a predicted rise of over a third in the county’s older population requiring care and support by 2030, and approximately 200 new Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) applications per month.
The number of children requiring foster care has risen by more than 10 per cent since 2020, and more than 30 extra older people now require the council to cover the cost of their nursing or care homes each month.