Publication scheme and registers

You will find the council’s democratic structure in the council’s constitution.

Council properties

Visit our contact us page for addresses, opening times and contact details for council properties and departments, including the Civic Offices.

Councillors & elections

Currently elected councillors’ information and contact details are available, while the most recent election results can be found on our voting pages.

Relationships

Our relationships with other authorities include Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH), and the Portsmouth Local Strategic Partnership – we are also part of Improvement & Efficiency South East, which has a framework agreement for the procurement of construction contracts.

Our Highways and Coastal Service has a partnership agreement with Havant Borough Council for coastal defence, and our Parking Service works with Fareham, Gosport and Havant councils in supplying and maintaining parking meters. Our Planning Service uses archaeology consultancy services provided by Southampton City Council.

Our financial statements, budgets and variance reports may be found on our Policies and Strategies page under Financial statement policies.

Capital programme & financial statements for projects and events

Any major expenditure must be approved by committee – please try searching this site for a specific project before submitting an FoI request.

Information on internal financial regulations will require an FoI request. Spending reviews can be found on our Council Meetings pages.

All Audit Commission Financial Audit/Internal Audit reports are reported to the Governance & Audit & Standards Committee.

Allowances and salaries

The members’ allowances scheme details the allowances paid to councillors each year – the council’s constitution features an explanation of the members’ allowances scheme.

General information on staff allowances and expenses such as overtime, travel and subsistence, as well as additional and exceptional duty payments are available in part five of our HR Managers’ Handbook. Specific information can be requested by submitting an FoI request.

Our transparency agenda page features details of our salary scales, as well as our annual reports which include district auditor’s reports.

Please email election services for information on election expenses.

Contracts

Our contracts page has an overview of our procurement procedures. Or visit our e-tender site for details of contracts currently being tendered, which also features a list of contracts awarded and their value.

Funding information for partnership arrangements can be found on Portsmouth’s Local Strategic Partnership site or by submitting an FoI request.

Visit our council meetings page for a timetable of council meetings and agendas, officers’ reports, background papers and minutes of council committee, sub committee and standing forum meetings, as well as major policy proposals and decisions – and the analyses of facts considered when framing major policies. Use the search box to find a specific topic.

Public consultations

Current and previous public consultations can be found on the consultations page. For internal communications guidance, criteria used for decision-making, internal instructions or manuals and guidelines – please submit an FoI request.

Information on strategies and business plans for council services is available in our Annual Report and on our policies and strategies page. Business plans for individual services are also available in their respective sections of the site.

Economic development action plan, forward plan & performance indicators

For more information on economic development please visit our local economy page, or read our forward plans. For capital strategy information please submit an FoI request.

Best value performance indicators are available if you search for performance information. District auditor’s reports on the best value performance plan and performance indicators are included as part of our annual reports.

Inspection reports are included as part of our comprehensive performance assessment. Local area agreements and statistical information produced in accordance with the council’s and departmental requirements are available on request from individual services.

Impact assessments

View our Integrated Impact Assessments (IIA) online – others are available on request from individual services.

Our service standards are included in our promises and values, while public service agreements are available to view on the HM Treasury website.

Policies and procedures for conducting council business are contained in our constitution, while our policies and procedures for delivering our services are available for individual services on request.

Our recruitment policy and guidance is included in part one of our HR managers’ handbook.

Our contact us page has a wide range of customer services contact numbers, or alternatively read about our complaints procedure.

Our Freedom of information page details our records management and personal data policies – or read more about our fees and charging policy.

Regulatory and licensing responsibilities can be viewed on our licensing committee page

The Port is responsible for issuing boat and boatman’s licences, as well as examining and granting pilotage exemption certificates – further details can be found on the Port Marine Safety Code website.

Our planning service is responsible for planning and building regulations responsibilities.

Services for local businesses can be found in the business section of the site – please use our A-Z directory or search facility for details on services for other organisations or for members of the public. We also have a Licensing detailing the services for which the Council is entitled to recover a fee, as well as the fees themselves.

Cultural information

Information on visiting Portsmouth, leisure, events, museums, libraries and archive collections can be found at Visit Portsmouth. Specific information is also available for local libraries.

For details of our leaflets, booklets and newsletters, as well as media releases, please visit our news and communications section.

Advice and guidance is offered on a number of matters – please search for a specific topic or service for more information.

Election information can be found on our voting and elections pages.

Fees associated with licensing, planning and other services are detailed below.

Licensing

Please follow the links for fees information for premises licences, permits, Hackney carriage and private hire licensing, lottery licensing, street entertainment permits and sex establishment licences.

Planning

Please follow the link for planning application fees and discharge of conditions information. Copies of planning decision notices, appeal decision notices are building control notices are £8, while standard photocopy charges are 50p per copy with a minimum charge of £1.

There are personal search fees for accessing non-statutory information. These include building control information up to 10 years old. Information over 10 years requires an additional fee of £30. Various planning publications are also available individually priced – please contact our Planning Service for more information.

Fees for other services

Follow the links for more information on Parking fines and Great Salterns golf fees.

Port

For information regarding our Port charges see the Portsmouth port website.

Other fees

Information on other fees will require an FoI request.

The following public registers are available:

Licensed drivers, vehicles and operators | club premises certificates | contaminated land | planning | electoral register | births, marriages and deaths | consumer credit register | estate agents | National assistance burials & deaths reported to the Treasury Solicitor | premises and personal licences | Local land charges

Asset register information is available by emailing asset.management@portsmouth.gov.uk, with more information on our asset management page.

We do not produce a disclosure log – information relating to previous requests is available by emailing foi@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

A register of councillors’ financial and other interests are declared on individual councillor pages.