'Hands off Portsmouth!' - Labour warned not to make city suffer in 'poorly thought through’ council shake up

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
THE government has been warned to keep its hands off Portsmouth if it cannot guarantee the city will not be worse off under its ‘rushed and poorly thought through’ shake up of local authorities in England.

An urgent decision will be made in January for Portsmouth to join with Southampton, the Isle of Wight and Hampshire County Council to ask the government to prioritise them for a devolution deal called a "Mayoral Combined Authority".

Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth council, has warned the Labour government not to make the city suffer under a shake up of local authorities. Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth council, has warned the Labour government not to make the city suffer under a shake up of local authorities.
Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth council, has warned the Labour government not to make the city suffer under a shake up of local authorities. | Alex Shute

The city council has long aspired for greater devolved powers but has previously favoured these being focused on the Solent region - working with Southampton City Council and neighbouring authorities such as Gosport and Fareham.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, under new devolution plans unveiled by Labour this has been effectively ruled out as it would not meet a threshold of any new combined authorities having a population of at least 1.5m people.

Alongside this, existing smaller unitary councils such as Portsmouth are being told to talk to their neighbouring district councils to look to create a new unitary authority of approximately 500,000 people - effectively a ‘greater Portsmouth’ regional council. This is necessary because the Labour government is abolishing all district and county councils.

But city council leader Steve Pitt fears this would simply lose the city’s identity and see it taking on the additional burden of services like social care and temporary accommodation - currently delivered by Hampshire County Council - without sufficient new funding from the government. He wants more time to make sure Portsmouth is not disadvantaged.

As a result, an extraordinary Cabinet meeting has been called for January 8 with a recommendation that the city council should be included in the Government's ‘Devolution Priority Programme’.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Being on the programme would give the council greater control over its own future destiny and will ensure it has more time to achieve a satisfactory outcome. It would allow the council time to negotiate with government and local partners on the reorganisation of its choice, as a decision would not be needed until next autumn.

Cllr Pitt said: "We welcome the opportunity to secure more powers for the region through the national devolution programme. We have always believed in a Solent solution and we didn't want an elected mayor but the Labour government is effectively ruling these out, so we have no choice and unfortunately have to take what's on offer. Despite this, we will work positively with Southampton, the Isle of Wight and Hampshire to make it a success.

“However, I am fuming that this has been mixed in with the government's new plans, not in their election manifesto, to also reorganise local government, getting rid of district and county councils and forcing successful smaller unitaries like Portsmouth to expand over much larger geographies. They never consulted with us, they are just telling us what to do. What's democratic about that?”

Cllr Pitt added: "The government needs to prove we will not be worse off or lose our identity under these proposals and get their cheque book out to make it happen. If not, my message is clear: Hands off Portsmouth!

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"At least by joining the Devolution Priority Programme, we buy ourselves some time to try to get the best deal for our city. If we don't join in now, they expect us to submit final plans on what the new 'Greater Portsmouth' council will look like by May, which is ridiculous. We will be asking a lot more questions in the New Year. This feels rushed and poorly thought through."

A Government white paper published on December 16 introduced a range of changes to how devolution will be progressed and local government will be reorganised. The deadline for councils to apply to be part of the priority programme is January 10.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1877
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice