THE battle for the future of Hampshire is hotting up as civic chiefs clashed yesterday over plans to ditch hundreds of councillors and create a single local authority.

County chiefs are at war with leaders in Eastleigh and Southampton over how to run crucial services like social care and housing.

The Conservative county council has proposed scrapping smaller authorities like Test Valley, New Forest and Winchester to save £40million a year. 

But those who support a rival scheme have accused leader Roy Perry of a “desperate” power grab.

The county council cabinet yesterday agreed to spend £150,000 on a consultation, giving the public their first direct say and bringing the total cost of the exercise to nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

Cllr Perry, who proposed a unitary Hampshire Council following the collapse of a combined authority for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said schemes which split the county would threaten crucial services.

He said: “To my mind, it is the residents who must decide which option best serves their interests, and it is why we need a proper and objective consultation first. 

“Hampshire’s council leaders have an obligation to residents to ensure we represent people’s views from the entire county, deliver the best possible services to all residents at the lowest achievable cost, and to spend taxpayers’ money wisely. In that vein, district and unitary councils will be invited to contribute to the consultation document before residents’ views are sought.”

Previously the leader of Test Valley Borough Council, Ian Carr has said that Cllr Perry’s announcement came as a “bombshell”.

Critics said the “divisive, expensive” move by Cllr Perry - the father of Romsey MP, Caroline Nokes - would hand power from communities to a handful of elite councillors.

Yesterday Southampton City Council’s Labour leader Simon Letts accused him of trying to “seize all powers in Hampshire”.

He said: “He’s desperate to protect the function and power of the county council.”

Eight authorities including Southampton, Portsmouth and Eastleigh want to keep the district councils and install a Solent combined authority taking powers from the Government.

Liberal Democrat Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Borough Council and the county’s opposition chief, said Cllr Perry’s plan represented a “massive missed opportunity” to claw back powers from the Government.

He told yesterday’s meeting: “It sets its face against devolution and instead sets its face on a divisive expensive process that talks about abolishing local government and replacing it with regional government.

Cllr House added: “It looks at rearranging the deckchairs on a lowest common denominator approach of one-size-fits-all, standard service delivery across the county with fewer people taking decisions.”

Ukip councillors threw their weight behind Cllr Perry with leader Chris Wood saying it would help remove “bloated, confusing and unnecessary local bureaucracy.”

The £150,000 consultation comes on top of £89,000 spent by the county council on a report by Deloitte consultancy, which said a unitary Hampshire Council would save £40million per year.