The leader of East Hampshire District Council is raving mad at the county’s push for devolution amid urgent calls for more facts and less guesswork.

Councillor Richard Millard has announced he won’t back plans for a unitary partnership without solid evidence.

Local government is facing its biggest shake-up for decades with plans to replace the two-tier county and district system with a single unitary version.

But with a deadline for submissions approaching, Cllr Millard hasn’t seen enough hard facts – and says deciding without evidence is nonsensical as merging East Hants with Ibiza and Benidorm.

His comments came ahead of Monday decision by EHDC to submit an interim proposal for local government reorganisation in Hampshire to Westminster.

The report is the culmination of a series of meetings between the leaders and chief executives of the 14 other councils in Hampshire.

It has been supported by consultants KPMG and forms Hampshire's interim proposal for local government reorganisation that must be submitted to central government by this Friday.

While there has been broad agreement with issues like decision-making principles, the participating councils have yet to reach a consensus on a preferred option for the unitary structures.

Cllr Millard said: “The interim report does not even say how many unitary authorities there should be and it doesn’t say who should go with who.

“It’s because we do not have the detailed evidence to inform our decision-making at this stage.

“Therefore, any recommendations or opinions being announced by other leaders are based on nothing other than desire – which is as nonsensical as suggesting we merge with Ibiza or Benidorm.

“I will make decisions based on fact, data, evidence and numbers. This is my duty because I am doing what’s best for resident – and by that I mean every resident of Hampshire.”