At an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on 8 January a recommendation is being put forward for Portsmouth City Council to become part of the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme. The reasons for this are:
- The government has ruled out the option for the Council to continue to pursue devolution for the Solent area only and it is therefore obliged to work with partners in Hampshire and the Solent to secure more powers for the local area.
- The new Government policies mean the conversations have extended to local government reorganisation and the Council is being instructed to engage in this
- Being part of the priority programme enables more local powers to be gained sooner with more support from Government
- Being part of the priority programme will ensure the Council has more time to negotiate with government and local partners on any future local government reorganisation
- The deadline for councils to apply to be part of the priority programme is 10 January
Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council, said:
“Government’s recent announcements mean we have to provide a response to them by 10 January. We want to bring greater powers to our area through devolution, but the new policies are restricting our options. It does however seem that the priority programme gives additional time to properly negotiate any new arrangements with the government and local partners. I look forward to reviewing the options with Cabinet colleagues but whatever happens we will remain focused on ensuring we get the best results for Portsmouth and its residents.”
Additional information
The Government white paper published on 16 December 2024 introduced a range of changes to how devolution will be progressed. These include elements such as:
- Areas of the country covered by both a county council and a district/borough council will need to have an elected mayor as part of a combined authority
- Any new combined authorities must have a population of at least 1.5m people (effectively ruling out the previously discussed plans for the Solent region)
- Existing smaller unitary councils (such as Portsmouth) are advised to talk to their neighbouring district councils to look to create a new unitary council of approximately 500,000 people
You can see full details of the new Government policies here: English Devolution White Paper – GOV.UK