Portsmouth saved from ‘disaster’, Lib Dem claim after council shake-up plans were put on hold

Portsmouth’s Lib Dems are claiming victory and said the city has been saved from ‘disaster’ after the government announced it was putting plans to create new ‘super councils’ on hold.

It follows its “Hands off Portsmouth!” campaign, which demanded a stop to the Government merging the city into a vast new “monster council” that it feared would have seen local residents’ services cut.

As part of the plans, all existing councils in Hampshire would be abolished and combined, with the existing Portsmouth, Havant, Gosport and Fareham authorities put into one new council with the Newlands area of Waterlooville and the villages south of Butser Hill.

But now the government has said a review will take place is to ensure the process is robust and aligns with the new Government’s aim to “rewire the state”, and follows “updated and privileged legal advice”.

Steve Pitt, Lib Dem Leader of Portsmouth City Council said: “We’ve won. The Government has finally had to listen to the people of Portsmouth and have stopped their unfair attempt to force us into a “monster council”.

“What they wanted to do was always wrong, but now they’ve finally sat up and listened. The Lib Dems and I have fought and fought and fought for this. I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve saved Portsmouth from disaster.

“They’ve forced us to waste millions on putting forward proposals that could have been spent on services for local residents. Now we can finally get back to delivering the services residents expect and deserve.

Back in 2024, the Government forced councils to put forward merger proposals, getting rid of the confusing two-tier structure which exists in some areas of the county.

However Portsmouth City Council has argued it is not needed as it is already a unitary authority, while neighbouring councils fear losing their local identity.

The Liberal Democrats also say that the option ministers chose for Hampshire would have forced Portsmouth into a “monster council” that would have a deficit of £67 million on day one - much of it inherited by Hampshire County Council.

Portsmouth and other councils issued legal challenges against the Government over the plans, but in the House of Commons, the Secretary of State Angela Rayner confirmed the Government remains committed to Local Government Reorganisation.

Charlie Murphy, Lib Dem MP candidate for Portsmouth South, welcomed the decision and criticised Portsmouth’s two Labour MPs Stephen Morgan and Amanda Martin for not supporting the city’s opposition.

He said: "I am relieved that the Government has backed down, but it should not have taken legal action to get here. 82% of people in our city said they did not want a new monster council. At that point, Government should have listened."

"The Lib Dem-led city council launched legal action against Labour's shotgun marriage for the city. It is a real shame our city's Labour MPs never spoke up for the Portsmouth about how reckless these plans were. Let's hope the plan never resurfaces."

In a joint statement, Portsmouth’s MPs Stephen Morgan and Amanda Martin said they welcomed the news to secure the right outcome for Portsmouth, but condemned the Lib Dems for political point scoring.

They said: “We welcome the Government’s decision to review the Local Government Reorganisation proposals for Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton. This is an opportunity to get this right and crucially, protect Portsmouth’s strong local identity.

“We have worked tirelessly to make the case for Portsmouth meeting Ministers, raising our concerns directly, responding to the councils requests and lobbying for a process that properly reflects our city’s interests.

We are pleased the Government has listened.It is therefore deeply disappointing to see the Liberal Democrats resort to political point-scoring and blaming others for something they themselves have been leading.

“We will always work constructively with others in the best interests of our city and will continue doing the hard work to stand up for Portsmouth.Residents deserve better than political games. We will continue working with Ministers and residents to protect Portsmouth’s identity and secure the best possible future for our city.”

East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds also welcomed the news the government's "reorganisation" plans for Hampshire have been halted.

He said: "I have consistently argued that the Government’s top-down reorganisation of local government would be a costly and bureaucratic exercise that nobody asked for - and nobody voted for. Worse still, it risked taking local services further away from the people they are there to serve, while increasing costs in key areas.

“So I’m pleased that the Government has finally hit the pause button on this disastrous scheme.

“It sounds very much like it was legal advice, rather than an actual change of heart, that has produced the pause. So whether this turns into a full u-turn, or simply a pause and reset, remains to be seen.

“For now, at least, East Hampshire stays together.

“But already there has been waste - in time, focus and money - as a result of pursuing an ill-thought-through scheme and then changing the spec part-way through.

“We shall see what ministers' next move will be. I will continue to make the case for keeping East Hampshire together.”

Hampshire County Council leader Cllr Nick Adams-King welcomed the announcement, saying it proved the authority was right to challenge the previous process.

He said: “This is the right decision and, frankly, it demonstrates exactly why Hampshire County Council was right to challenge the previous process.”

Cllr Adams-King said the council had never been trying to protect the current system but wanted to make sure a major restructure affecting more than two million people was properly planned.

He said: “Local government can and should change. It was about making sure that a once-in-a-generation reorganisation was lawful, properly evidenced and capable of standing the test of time.”

He added that the Government now had the chance to bring councils back together and develop a plan that was “properly costed and financially sustainable”.

Cllr Adams-King also warned that getting the restructure wrong could have cost residents “tens or even hundreds of millions of pounds” and affected frontline services.

He added: “Today’s announcement gives us the opportunity to start again and produce something better. Hampshire County Council will engage constructively with the Government in doing exactly that.”

Gosport MP labelled the proposals to merge councils as a “titanic waste” of taxpayers’ money.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport, hit out at the government after communities secretary Angela Rayner announced she was withdrawing the decision to approve plans for local government reorganisation in the county.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday. September 7, Dame Caroline said she was confused about what the secretary of state’s announcement meant for the county.

Dame Caroline said: “When it comes to Hampshire, is this a pause or is this a cancellation?

“When will we know if this titanic waste of council taxpayers’ money is actually going to re-emerge?