Hampshire’s devolution deal is on the horizon as trust is being rebuilt due to a change of leadership across the county.

The “once-in-a-generation” plans to potentially secure new powers and investment of £1.14 billion for the region from a Pan-Hampshire County Deal was withdrawn last year.

Unitary councils in Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight withdrew from planned discussions with the government and rejected the prospect of a single deal for the wider Hampshire area.

However, at Southampton City Council’s overview and scrutiny committee (July 11), leader Cllr Lorna Fielker said that the devolution deal will finally come to the region, and all thanks to the new change of leadership across the county, which allowed for different discussions that didn’t have in the past.

Cllr Fielker said: “There is a change of leadership across the county essentially, and it’s the basis of new relationships being formed.

"Different discussions being had which don’t have any of the past attached to them and that’s really helpful. It’s taking advantage of that.

“There’s a recognition of where things have gone wrong in the past and also about not throwing out the baby with the bathwater because of those deals that were being put together previously there will be good stuff in there.

"It’s how we make sure that we get what’s good. How do we make sure they’re far more ambitious? We need to be as ambitious as possible and ensure that everybody feels comfortable with it and can be signed.”

The leader said the much-needed devolution deal will finally come to the region since it “is absolutely fundamental to our future prosperity” and is where the Solent area gets “the money and powers”.

“We’ve had two failed devolution deals in the past, and we need the next one not to fail,” she added.

At the moment, conversations between authorities are focused on building trust. A trust that “has not always been” on the table and resulted in failed deals, but this time, Southampton’s leader is “hopeful”.

She said: "I’ve been meeting with leaders across Hampshire, the unitaries, Hampshire County Council and districts and boroughs to look at how we’re going to come together to work on a plan that we can all agree on and we can present to government as quickly as possible and get what we need and deserve here in this region."