Portsmouth agrees ‘least detrimental’ option for council shake-up - but still calls for city to be left alone
Portsmouth City Council has formally rejected the government’s proposed council shake-up for not being in the best interests in the city, while still outlining a preferred option should ministers force it through.
Councils across the country must submit their Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposals by today (September 26) which will see the current two-tier system - where county councils share responsibilities with district and borough councils - replaced with with larger unitary authorities serving around 500,000 residents.
Portsmouth’s Liberal Democrat administration has opposed the plans from the start, arguing the city is financially stable and should be exempt - especially as it is already a unitary authority unlike other areas of Hampshire. In its final submission, the council will again urge ministers to “leave the city alone”.
A report to yesterday’s cabinet meeting yesterday (September 25) set out a fall-back position should exclusion be refused. It favours a new authority combining Portsmouth with Fareham, Gosport and Havant – “Option 1”.
A “modification request” proposes adding Rowlands Castle, Horndean and Clanfield from East Hampshire, and Newlands from Winchester, also known as the Berewood estate, which physically sites in Waterlooville– “Option 1A”. The council describes Option 1A as the “least detrimental” option.
The administration said their approach is in line with public opinion, citing a recent survey where 82 per cent of nearly 4,000 locals said they’re against Portsmouth’s involvement in LGR.
Twelve councils across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have agreed that four new mainland unitary authorities would satisfy the government’s demands while ensuring effective services.
The authority comprising Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and Havant has been dubbed “South East Hampshire”; “Mid Hampshire” would be formed from New Forest, Test Valley, Winchester and East Hampshire, and “North Hampshire” would combine Basingstoke and Deane, Hart and Rushmoor.
Southampton would merge with Eastleigh as “South West Hampshire” alongside nearby Test Valley and New Forest parishes; with the Isle of Wight remaining separate.
Cash-strapped Hampshire County Council and East Hampshire District Council has submitted its own separate proposals, with Gosport Borough Council declining to take part.
In the draft letter to Steve Reed MP, the government’s housing secretary, Cllr Pitt argued that LGR will not solve funding pressures currently facing councils across the country. He said it was a “reality” that new authorities would inherit deficits from predecessors such as Hampshire County Council’s £97m budget deficit in 2025/26.
Both Fareham Borough Council and Havant Borough Council have also made a decision to ask the government to put Option 1A in place, believing this will be the best outcome for residents in their boroughs and the villages proposed to be added to it.