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Agreed that Portsmouth City Council
should seek to be a part of the Hampshire & The Solent
Devolution Agreement thereby avoiding a Ministerial direction for
what a devolved area will look like.
Agreed that Portsmouth City Council,
alongside our partner upper tier authorities in Hampshire & The
Solent, should seek to be part of the national Devolution Priority
Programme (DPP) and submit a letter to Government to this effect,
recognising that this will mean more support and more money coming
into the devolved area.
Noted that subject to the Government
agreeing that Hampshire and the Solent should be part of the DPP,
that Portsmouth will be asked to submit outline proposals for LGR
in March 2025 and final proposals in the Autumn (rather than final
proposals in May 2025).
Gave delegated authority to the
Leader and to the Chief Executive to negotiate and take forward
devolution and LGR discussions with other authorities and with The
Government. As part of that, its starting position should be that
Government should keep its hands off Portsmouth and let the city
remain a standalone unitary authority.
Agreed that further papers will come
to Cabinet (and Council where appropriate) about progress in these
policy areas. All councillors will be briefed ahead of key dates in
the timetable.
Agreed to ask Hampshire County
Council, in order to deliver smooth and stable devolution and
reorganisation, it does not delay its 2025 elections or, if it
feels it must, to delay for a short period.