Civic leaders in Southampton have supported a joint submission over the planned major shake-up of councils.

The government wants to abolish the two-tiered system of local government and replace it with larger unitary authorities delivering all council services.

Local authorities have until today to submit interim plans to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Southampton City Council’s cabinet approved a proposed document, which is set to be co-signed by the leaders of the 15 unitary, district, borough and county councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Labour leader Cllr Lorna Fielker said local government reorganisation was going to be the biggest change to councils for more than 50 years.

She said it presented an opportunity to reduce the cost to the taxpayer and ensure local decisions are made by one authority that can look at how the different services interact and support each other.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Cllr Fielker said: “We need to appreciate there are 15 different leaders, who are rightly looking at this work through the lenses of their place.

“Whilst there areas of agreement, there are also points of difference and we are not at a point where we are suggesting what those new unitary authorities should look like from a geographic perspective.”

There is consensus among the region’s local authorities that Isle of Wight Council should remain a “separate and distinct” unitary authority.

Leaders have also agreed a set of guiding principles to inform their future discussions.

These include looking at economic geographies that inform a sense of place, community and economic growth, considering a range of options, some of which will include boundary changes, and engaging with the community before the final submission to government.

Cllr Fielker said the next steps were for councils to see if they can reach an agreement on a single proposal for the region.

It might be that this is not possible and more than one is submitted later in the year, she added.

The current deadline for final submissions is September 26, however, the Hampshire and Solent interim plan includes a request to extend this by at least two months.

Other councils were due to meet this week to discuss the interim plan ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Final decisions on what the new unitary councils will look like will be made by the government.

Local government reorganisation is separate to the strategic authority devolution programme.

Hampshire and the Solent was accepted onto MHCLG’s fast-track strategic authority initiative.

Devolution will see powers and funding transferred from Westminster to the strategic authority.

A regional mayor will be elected in May next year and they will likely have responsibility for areas such as infrastructure, transport, skills, employment and housing.