£358m debt increase prediction for Portsmouth City Council sees debate on public spending
A potential £358m increase in debts for Portsmouth City Council has led to internal debates based around the council’s spending habits within certain sectors.
Councillors have raised concerns that spending related to redevelopment projects and leisure opportunities in the Portsmouth area in particular has led to extensive borrowing from the UK Government Treasury and bonds.
Over-funding into new housing and business complexes in areas such as Cosham may lead to a dramatic decrease in funding available for sectors such as health and education, in a unitary authority which already holds one of the top 10 most deprived council wards in the UK.
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, former Liberal Democrat Leader of Portsmouth City Council, said in a press release: “We’ve had to make some difficult decisions about where to save money but most of our proposals take money from areas residents responding to our survey said we should be reducing.
“We never want to increase council tax, and it is particularly difficult to do at this time, but the alternative is to reduce services that people rely on and doing that would hurt our residents even more.”
Contrary to speculation around areas of over-spending in Portsmouth City Council’s budget, housing and environment financing by the UK Treasury was the lowest recorded in the 2023 Budget, at £38b.
Portsmouth City Council made cuts of £1.5m in previous months to a vast majority of the area’s funded sectors, with £7.9m added to the Council’s social care budget in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis.
If you require financial support from Portsmouth City Council or other organisations, visit the Council’s online directory at https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/services/benefits-and-support/help-and-support/help-for-people-in-financial-hardship-directory/.
