Happy New Year! In 2023, I will remain on your side and that of all my constituents, as ever, and I’m always keen to help where I can. This includes chasing for a reply on your behalf when you’ve been unable to get through to our councils or other government agencies, as well as making Ministers aware of local views on legislation and policy issues. Ahead of what is set to be another busy year, I thought it might be helpful to explain a little more about our constituency and the different tiers of local authority that represent you too.
I represent the constituency of North East Hampshire. Fleet is its biggest town – which is bordered by Church Crookham and Elvetham Heath – and it includes Bramley, Crondall, Crookham Village, Eversley, Hartley Wintney, Hook, Long Sutton, North and South Warnborough, Odiham, Pamber Heath, Preston Candover, Ramsdell, Sherborne St John, Sherfield on Loddon and Yateley also, to name just the biggest communities of all the parishes in the constituency! In my view, the boundaries of North East Hampshire include some of the best places to live in the country.
Much of our interaction with ‘the council’ is through our borough or district council – and there are two covering North East Hampshire. To the west, we have Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, which covers the villages within the Wards of ‘Tadley and Pamber’, ‘Bramley’ and ‘Sherborne St. John and Rooksdown’ to the north of Basingstoke, and the villages within the Ward of ‘Basing and Upton Grey’ and ‘Oakley and the Candovers’ to the south.
To the east, we have Hart District Council, which covers Hartley Wintney, Hook, Odiham and surrounding villages in the centre of the constituency, as well as Yateley, Fleet, Elvetham Heath and Church Crookham in the east.
You can find out which council represents your neighbourhood here, and it is responsible for bin collections, planning applications and administering your council tax – a part of which they pass on to the county council.
As well as the borough and district council wards, Hampshire County Council is responsible for our local roads, schools and social care. Each County Councillor represents a division in our constituency; these are larger than the district council wards and don’t necessarily line up! You can find out who your councillors are at: hants.gov.uk/aboutthecouncil/councillors
In addition, we have a directly elected Police and Crime Commissioner for the whole of Hampshire, and two ‘Integrated Care Boards’ are responsible for making decisions about NHS spending in our area too.
Should you ever need assistance, I am here to help, including to make sure that these bodies serve your interests, alongside those elected to them. Please do not hesitate to write to me at: email@ranil.uk – and please make sure you include your full name and postal address details too!
