The Leader of Portsmouth City Council has called on the Government to provide proper funding for local councils rather than forcing council tax increases.
The council’s administration has announced proposals that address financial pressures without impacting services to residents. They include £3m of savings to its revenue budget, which will be met by working ever more efficiently and reducing spend with suppliers.
The proposals include raising council tax in line with government’s expectation of 4.99%, 2% of which will go specifically towards funding adult social care. In total the council tax increase would raise £5.4m for the council and see the average Portsmouth home’s council tax bill increase by the equivalent of £1.36 per week.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of the council, said: “It’s a relief that we can yet again put forward a budget that addresses our financial pressures without reducing any services. While many councils are having to make cuts our record of responsible financial management means the savings we need to make in Portsmouth are much lower than similar sized councils across the country.
“Increasing council tax is always difficult but the Government has forced us to do it. Every time the Government announces funding for councils they say they’re giving us a huge figure but a very large chunk of it is actually just permission to increase council tax. That is not new money for the city, it is money taken from our residents. Rather than using smoke and mirrors to get credit for something it hasn’t done, the Government needs to give local councils proper funding. It’s not just Portsmouth asking for this, it’s a national issue across all local authorities.”
The revenue budget savings need to come from £187m of council spending, the majority of which is spent on social care and education with adult social care costing £72m each year and children’s social care and education £64m.
These latest budget reductions will take the council’s total savings made in the last 15 years to £113m.Alongside the revenue budget, which is for ongoing costs, a separate capital budget for one-off projects sees proposals for more than £3.5m of investment in a range of facilities across the city which are being hailed as helping to futureproof the city against Local Government Reorganisation.
The budget proposals will be considered at the council’s Cabinet meeting on 2 February and if accepted will then go to the Full Council meeting on 24 February for approval and can be seen as part of the Agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday, 10th February, 2026, 2.00 pm Portsmouth City Council