A council leader has blasted “incorrect” and “misleading” statements made in a joint bid by a dozen authorities in their proposal for a shake-up of local government.

Hampshire County Council has demanded the removal of criticism made by 12 other councils, including Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council, in their local government reorganisation submission.

The call comes after the 200-page submission from councils about their preferred plans for the abolition of the current two-tier system.

In an open letter to the 12 local authority leaders,  Hampshire County Council leader Nick Adams-King said it was “shameful” authorities opted to criticise the services that his council delivers and, “by extension, the staff delivering those services”.

In the letter, he said being “staggered” by the lack of respect shown to public servants by each of the 12 organisations, “whose leaders have knowingly endorsed and put their names to such a document”.

He added: “And rather than accepting that it is entirely valid to consider a range of options, you seem to be making untrue and irresponsible comments in relation to the alternatives presented in an attempt to undermine or diminish the county council and East Hampshire’s case rather than focusing on evidencing your own case.”

Several statements were included in the submission regarding “fragmented commissioning” and “poor alignment” between the county council and district services, workforce instability and leadership turnover,  and centralised decisions-making around children and young people.

One of what Cllr Adams-King says is “untrue” related to the local NHS providers and the support they showed to the county council’s proposal for the North Hampshire model.

According to the 12, their support and views are “born out of frustration” with their current relationship with the county council and “attempts to work collaboratively” and a “lack of transparency about their current financial situation”.

Cllr Adams-King said that NHS providers, including the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, HIOWFT, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust, and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, have already asked for the “damaging” and “unprofessional” statement to be removed, which “does not reflect their position”.

On page 120 of the 12 local councils’ submission, they said they have made a “collective effort” to engage with the county council and share their views, but the county was “unwilling to discuss them with us”.

Addressing the statement, Cllr Adams-King said the council did engage and to suggest otherwise is “disappointing”.

He added: “Your paper refers to a meeting which was set up with limited information in advance and little opportunity for us to form a professional view on work that we had not been part of”.

The 12 also claimed the county had been misleading. Cllr Adams-King said that suggesting the county council has in “any way” made misleading statements is “entirely inappropriate”.

He added: “Clearly, we can have respectful differences of opinion, but this is quite frankly a shameful statement and one that I would never expect between local government colleagues.”

Cllr Adams-King said while he respects and values the position to find an alternative proposal, which could bring a genuine choice, what concerns him is the presentation of information that “lacks accuracy” and is “fundamentally damaging to our future relationship”.

He said: “It is discourteous, and I expected better of you all.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporter, he said that criticising the county’s plan is “entirely within your rights” but “don’t criticise what we do already”.

“To suggest that those educating our children, or those fixing our potholes, are not doing a good job is not acceptable.

“It is not acceptable because all of these people rely on their jobs that they got, and to suggest that is not as it should be is disrespectful to them.

“I’ve been really clear and honest in saying that there is no right answer or wrong answer. I have spoken at over 40 public meetings, and I make sure I talk about their plan as well in an entirely positive way.

“I think it’s really sad that we have got to a point  where they feel  they  need to criticise what the county council currently does in order to justify what they say.”

The letter is included in the Hampshire County Council LGR business case that will be presented to the full council on Wednesday, September 24.

If approved by the cabinet on Friday, September 26, the council’s proposal will be submitted to the government the same day.