RADICAL plans to form a super council for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight should have even more powers in future, the county’s top councillor has said.

Civic leaders are waiting to hear the fate of a proposed combined authority which would transfer extra powers and multi-million pound budgets to the region.

But leading Hampshire county councillors want to take even more control in areas such as health and education.

It came amid accusations that the county’s Conservative top brass are dictating the deal to smaller councils and should fix the current system before asking for more responsibilities.

The devolution deal, backed by 17 councils and business partnerships, would see the region keep all of its business rates and give it greater control over housing, infrastructure and social care.

A council meeting heard the government has yet to decide whether the scheme will go ahead.

Meanwhile, Tory council leader Cllr Roy Perry echoed calls from his Lib Dem rival, Cllr Keith House, for Hampshire to take even more powers from government in future.

“Some things need to be dealt with at a higher level, some things can be better dealt with at a local level,” he said.

“I agree with Cllr House that there are issues like health and education where it will be very important in the fullness of time to do more devolution and get serious additional powers. There should be much more local control over those than is currently in place.”

He added: “England is the last outpost of the British Empire. We’re the most centralised country in Europe and the more decisions be made to make it more decentralised the better.”

Lib Dem councillor David Harrison and councillors for Labour and UKIP said the deal was being run by the council’s Conservative cabinet, ignoring the views of other councillors and smaller authorities.

Cllr Harrison said: “We need a devolution revolution. Throughout my entire political career I have effectively been shut out of the decision making process. And why is this? It’s because I’m not a member of the in crowd. I share this with some of the Conservative backbenchers.

“They’re going to spend most of their political life just voting fodder.

“We need devolution but we need to get our own accounts in order.”

The Lib Dems won an amendment calling for urgent “double devolution” proposals, handing county powers down to district and parish councils.

Cllr House said: “We need to make sure we also pass down powers and responsibilities to districts, parishes, towns, communities in our area so more local decision-making can take place on local facilities, local services and local priorities.

“I get a sense that this has been forgotten because of the bigger picture that Cllr Perry’s interested in, the London stuff. Well, we think it’s all important.”

Cllr Perry said devolution down from the county was “clearly” already in the scheme.