Councillors accuse liberal leader of unfair tactics in council meeting

Councillor George Madgwick, leader of the Portsmouth Independent Party, and Cllr Charlotte Gerada, leader of the Labour Group, both criticised Liberal Democrat leader Steve Pitt for presenting a statement to the full council without proper notice.

Last week, council members were asked to agree on a statement about the government’s local government reorganisation (LGR) agenda. Opposition councillors raised concerns, saying they only received the statement the day before, despite the administration planning to introduce it the week before.

PIP criticism

“We strongly feel the Liberal council leader, Cllr Steve Pitt, misused his power at Full Council to bring a late motion in about devolution,” Cllr Madgwick said.

“For months the Liberals have promised opposition parties a non-political, cross-party, working relationship on Devolution and LGR because the outcome of this will literally be life-changing for every resident in Portsmouth whether they like it or not.”

Cllr Madgwick said opposition leaders received the four-page motion “only 8 working hours before full council” in an “official sensitive” email they couldn’t share. “This clearly shows, without any doubt, that he withheld his ideas intentionally to give councillors in Portsmouth an unfair and unbalanced advantage,” he said.

“They are attempting to muddy the waters so the public are led to believe a narrative that is being created to protect the liberals for the next local elections,” he claimed.

Labour criticism

Labour leader Cllr Charlotte Gerada also criticised the motion. “This week at the full council meeting, Cllr Pitt fell short of the high standards we expect from a leader,” she said.

“In raising a complaint about the Local Government Reorganisation proposals being anti-democratic, he forced a politically charged, inaccurate statement on councillors and gave them less than a day to input their thoughts."

She added, “If the leader truly wanted a set of unifying principles... he should have given all councillors a chance to have real input in shaping these.”

Leader's response

Cllr Steve Pitt defended his decision, saying the monitoring officer was clear that the statement was appropriate use of Standing Order 26 which allows the leader of the council to introduce urgent business at a meeting, as long as a written notice is given to the local democracy manager and group spokespersons by 5pm the day before.

He explained that group leaders were notified the day before the meeting, which was “five hours before the rules stipulated".

He added that the timing was due to the fast-changing nature of the negotiations with other council leaders across Hampshire.

“It was important that the statement reflected the very latest position,” he said. He also mentioned waiting for a response from government ministers about Hampshire County Council’s £180m deficit.