Portsmouth City Council is scheduled to meet on 23 September 2025. The agenda includes discussion of Local Government Reorganisation proposals, and the appointment of a returning officer for the Combined County Mayoral Election. Councillors will also be asked to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, and to make appointments to committees.

Here's a breakdown of the key items:

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) Proposals

The council is scheduled to consider and debate the Cabinet report on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposals. The report pack indicates that this is for information only, ahead of a decision by the Cabinet on 25 September 2025.

The Agenda Supplement - Local Government Reorganisation LGR Proposals 25th-Sep-2025 17.00 Cabinet contains a draft letter from Councillor Steve Pitt, Leader of the Council, to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, requesting that Portsmouth City Council be excluded from the LGR process. The letter notes that 82% of Portsmouth residents supported this position in a recent council survey.

The report also covers the possibility of Portsmouth being included in a Portsmouth & South-East Hampshire Unitary Authority (PSEH), and notes that if this occurs, the council would prefer Option 1, with a modification request set out in Option 1A from the Case for Change.

The report pack also notes that:

The LGR proposals alone were not designed to deal with the scale of the existing underlying financial deficits faced by individual local authorities. LGR and the Case for Change only deals with the direct impact of LGR itself and nothing more

The report pack includes the following appendices:

• Proposed letter from the Leader of the Council to Minister McMahon
• Correspondence between Leader of the Council and the Government on LGR
• The 12 Authority Case for Change Close enough to be local, big enough to stay strong
• The 5th February Letter that issued the Statutory Invitation
• Interim Plan
• Feedback on the interim plan
• Letters of support from local MPs and Solent Growth Partnership Business Board
• The Government timetable for LGR

Appointment of Returning Officer for the Combined County Mayoral Election

The council is scheduled to appoint a returning officer for the upcoming Combined County Mayoral Election. The Appointment of CCARO report recommends that Natalie Brahma-Pearl, Returning Officer and Chief Executive at Portsmouth City Council, be appointed as the Combined County Authority Returning Officer (CCARO) for the 2026 mayoral elections.

The CCARO will have personal responsibility for the administration of the poll and will coordinate delivery of the poll with Local Returning Officers in each of the fourteen local authority areas. The CCARO's duties also include the preparation, printing and postage of an Election Address Booklet to all registered electors in the combined county authority area.

Review of Political Proportionality on Committees and Panels

Following changes to the political makeup of the council, councillors are scheduled to discuss and approve a Review of Political Proportionality Report September 2025 V3. The report details the need to revise the political proportionality of the council due to the formation of a new Reform UK political group, and the resignation of Councillor Brian Madgwick.

The recommendations include:

• Agreeing the revised proportionality of the council and the associated allocation of seats on committees and panels.
• Appointing Councillor George Madgwick as the Reform UK Group member on the Licensing Committee.
• Appointing Councillor Raymond Dent as the Reform UK Group member on the Housing and Social Care Scrutiny Panel, and as Vice Chairman of the panel.
• Appointing Councillor Raymond Dent as the Reform UK Group member on the Planning Committee.
• Appointing Councillor Peter Candlish as a Liberal Democrat Group Standing Deputy on the Planning Committee.
• Appointing a councillor to the position of Chair of the Traffic, Environment & Community Safety Scrutiny Panel.
• Noting that the Reform UK Group has gifted its second 'Group 5' committee seat to the PIP Group, and reappointing Councillor Matthew Cordy to this panel.
• Appointing Councillor Benedict Swann as the Conservative Group member on the Langstone Harbour Board.

The report also notes the appointment of opposition group spokespersons: Councillor Emily Strudwick, Councillor Russell Simpson, Councillor George Madgwick and Councillor Raymond Dent.

Other items

The agenda includes standard items such as:

• Declaration of Members' Interests
• To approve as a correct record the Minutes of 15 July 2025
• Apologies for Absence
• To receive such communications as the Lord Mayor may desire to lay before the Council
• Deputations from the Public under Standing Order No 24.
• Urgent Business