Portsmouth leader calls government 'deluded' over council shake-up plans
Portsmouth City Council’s leader has described the Labour government as “deluded” for expecting its council shake up to afford Hampshire County Council’s £97m budget gap.
Councils across Hampshire are currently progressing towards Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), part of the Labour government’s ambition to create larger unitary authorities across England, each serving populations of around 500,000.
The reorganisation would replace the existing two-tier system in Hampshire, where public services are split between Hampshire County Council and smaller district authorities such as those in Fareham, Winchester and the New Forest.
As part of the process, councils are drafting proposals for new authority boundaries. One suggestion has been for Portsmouth to join with Gosport, Fareham and Havant.
LGR is distinct from devolution, which would introduce a new regional mayor with devolved powers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
On Tuesday (3 June), Jim McMahon, minister of state for local government and English devolution, announced that Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton would receive a combined total of £542,174 to develop LGR proposals.
However, Councillor Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said the amount “is nowhere near enough to cover the cost across all councils”.
He added that the process has already consumed council time and resources, and accused the government of continuing to impose reorganisation “without answering our direct questions”.
The council’s Liberal Democrat administration has expressed concern about the risk of Portsmouth inheriting a share of Hampshire County Council’s £97.6m budget shortfall under any new arrangement.
Cllr Pitt said: “Government expects the process to create sufficient savings to address the structural revenue budget of Hampshire County Council, without any additional financial support. This is deluded.
“We will continue to request that government excludes Portsmouth from reorganisation, as it has still not produced any tangible evidence to support its claims that Portsmouth residents will benefit from its proposals.”
In a letter to Cllr Pitt dated May 28, Mr McMahon acknowledged the financial risks but said it was the responsibility of councils to manage their budgets, describing borrowing and holding debt as “standard”.
He added that any reorganisation proposals should reflect how “the implications of this can be managed locally, including as part of efficiencies possible through reorganisation”.
Commenting on Minister Jim McMahon’s statement on Local Government Reorganisation, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan and Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin said they welcomed the city being presented with devolution.
In a joint statement ther said: “We support the Labour Government’s commitment to shifting power out of Westminster and the council’s choice to sign up to the priority programme. Devolution will create a more sustainable system of local government that delivers better value and better services for Portsmouth people.
“The Government’s feedback to local councils confirms that devolution plans in our area will be locally led and flexible, allowing councils to decide what works best for our area including the size of any new local authority.
“We welcome the funding provided by the government to enable local councils to develop and present a strong submission to deliver better public services in our area and improve the lives of local residents. The council signed up to these proposals, it is now their responsibility to take this forward. We will continue to work together to deliver this once in a generation opportunity for our city”.