Illustration of people walking and interacting on a city street, with diverse individuals including children and a person using a white cane, set against tall buildings and a purple ribbon winding through the scene.
Hampshire County Council is asking for people’s views on its budget for 2026/27.
The County Council has a strong track record for managing its finances well, living within its means, and has an excellent reputation as a high-performing local authority.
However, even with our continued focus on efficiency, transformation and innovation, the scale of the financial challenge ahead means that we face a budgetary shortfall for 2026/27 of £143m.
Consultation period: from 4 November to 11:59pm on 7 December 2025.
Please ensure that your response reaches us by this time as those received after the closing date will not be included in the consultation reports.
How to have your say
Before giving your views, we ask you to read the consultation Information Pack.
This information is also available in Easy Read.
You can give your feedback using the online consultation Response Form, which is available in standard, plain text and Easy Read formats.
If you prefer to complete the Response Form offline a printable version is available.
You can also email a written response directly to Hampshire County Council using the email address: insight@hants.gov.uk or write to Freepost HAMPSHIRE (Please also write Budget Consultation, FM09 on the back of the envelope).
You can listen to the documents available on this web page using a screen reader or a ‘Read Aloud’ function, or zoom in to enlarge the text.
If you require a paper copy of the Information Packs or the Response Form, a copy in another language or format, or if you have any queries about the consultation, please contact: insight@hants.gov.uk, or call: 0300 555 1375.
How your views will be used
The views submitted through this consultation will be collated and used to inform the Council’s decisions on its budget for 2026/27.
Privacy notice
Hampshire County Council is seeking your views, comments and information about you as part of a consultation on the Council’s budget for 2026/27.
The legal basis for the use of your information is UK GDPR Article 6 1 e ‘performance of a task carried out in the public interest in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council’.
Responses will inform the Council’s decisions on how to set its budget for 2026/27.
The information you provide in your consultation response is being collected and processed by Hampshire County Council.
Raw data will only be shared with other parties where they are undertaking data processing on behalf of Hampshire County Council.
All data will remain within the UK/EEA. Your responses will be kept securely for two years, after which they will be deleted or destroyed.
You have some legal rights in respect of the personal information we collect from you. Please see our Data Protection page for further details.
You can contact the County Council’s Data Protection Officer at data.protection@hants.gov.uk.
If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.
