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Fareham College is preparing for job losses as a result of funding cuts. A trimmed budget means the college has announced plans to axe 32 jobs, which could include as many as nine teaching posts. College officials say they are acting ahead of proposed cuts and have launched a month-long consultation with unions.

The leader of Hampshire County Council defended the authority paying £100,000-a-year to appoint a new broadband chief. Tory Councillor Ken Thornber said: “Faster broadband speeds are vital for the continued economic prosperity of Hampshire.

The University of Plymouth has justified its decision to pay its vice-chancellor £283,504 per year, a wage rise of one-fifth. Nick Buckland, chairman of the university’s board of governors and chairman of its Remuneration Committee defended the salary.

Councillor Sean Woodward, executive leader of Fareham Borough Council (FBC), explained that the authority is working to save money for the taxpayer through shared services. “We already have in place a highly successful building control partnership with Gosport Borough Council and we are keen to continue to work with neighbouring authorities to improve service delivery while reducing costs,” he said.

Firefighters needed half the night to tackle a major fire at a supermarket in Plymouth. Crews from Crownhill and Greenbank were called to the blaze at the Tesco store in Transit Way, Crownhill, at about 0100 GMT last week. No-one was injured in the fire, which is thought to have begun in a refrigeration unit and did major damage. The store was partially closed for the following day.

Thirteen parents were recently prosecuted at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court for failing to send their children to school. For example, Hampshire County Council took two couples to court. A couple from Havant were both given parenting orders for not sending their son to secondary school between February and July 2010. The orders mean they will have to attend 12 months of counselling and parenting classes.

Southampton City Council and Fareham Borough Council will combine their legal teams in a cost-cutting bid later this year if the plan is approved at a meeting later this week (commencing Monday, January 17). A senior legal officer at Fareham council has already been made redundant. His departure will clear the way for the two authorities to share one solicitor and thus make major savings.

Southampton City Council must shed 250 jobs because it is faced with an even worse budget deficit than expected. The authority has worked out that its reduced central grant will until 2013 leave it with £5m less than expected. The leader of the council, Cllr Royston Smith, said: "We now understand that we will need to find savings of £25million next year to meet the funding shortfall.

Two Southampton bodies have teamed up to revitalise a former shipyard which will create 700 skilled jobs. South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Southampton City Council have combined with a private sector developer to draw up proposals for a maritime innovation quarter at Centenary Quay, the former Vosper Thornycroft site in Woolston.

The Southern region has bucked the trend for UK unemployment figures. The number of jobless people increased by 35,000 to reach 2.5 million in the three months to October. However, the Office for National Statistics has said that overall unemployment has gone down in the South East and London slightly by 1,000. In the South East, which encompasses the Southern area, the jobless total is 276,000.

A new building at the Oasis Lord’s Hill Academy school in Southampton has been given the go ahead. It will be situated next to The Cedar School on Lordshill Recreation Ground. Southampton City Council’s planning panel decided unanimously to approve the new build of Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill to start at a meeting this week (commencing Monday, December 20).

Hundreds of new jobs are due to be created when Southampton port chiefs confirm a fifth cruise terminal scheme in the city, which would boost the local economy by £150m a year. Associated British Ports joint chief Doug Morrison said: “This will be good for the people who live in Southampton and the people who come in because of the ships.