Portsmouth leaders say city should be "left alone" amid council reform plans
The leader of Portsmouth Council has said the city should be "left alone" and not included in the government's plans to reorganise local councils.
Councillor Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth City Council (PCC), raised his concerns in a letter to the government. He addressed the letter to Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution.
Cllr Pitt argued that PCC is a stable and effective council and should not be involved in the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme. The LGR plan is mainly aimed at areas with two-tier council systems or councils that are struggling.
Hampshire currently operates a two-tier system, where services are shared between county and district councils. However, Portsmouth and Southampton are unitary authorities, meaning they provide all local services themselves.
The government wants to replace two-tier systems with larger unitary councils, each serving around 500,000 people. It claims this would simplify local government, save money, and improve services and accountability.
The council’s Liberal Democrat administration said that, if reorganisation must happen, it would prefer to join with Gosport, Fareham and Havant.
Cllr Pitt said: “The government is arguing we are too small and can be more financially stable through Local Government Reorganisation but there is no evidence for that. We have disproved their arguments and continue to tell Government that Portsmouth City Council does not need to be part of any reorganisation.
Cllr Pitt said Portsmouth is financially stronger than many other councils and warned that new councils could take on major financial problems, pointing to Hampshire County Council’s projected £136m deficit by 2026–27.
He added: "I understand the Government’s desire to have unitary councils but Portsmouth is already a sustainable unitary so should be left alone.”
The letter also warned that any new council area should reflect real community links, based on how people live, work, study and spend their leisure time.
Cllr Pitt added: “The area covered by Portsmouth, Southampton and Hampshire is huge and needs a minimum of four separate councils to support residents but this should really be looking at where communities exist and how best they are supported.
"People don’t live their lives within council boundaries drawn on a map decades ago and we need to make sure, if Government forces change on us, it is done in a way that best meets residents needs based on the areas they identify with and use.”