Portsmouth.
Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary. £232m net revenue. 14 wards across 2 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Liberal Democrats chamber, opposed area.
Portsmouth is a unitary controlled by Liberal Democrats (8 of 15 seats). Net revenue is £232m for 2025-26. It covers 14 wards spanning 2 parliamentary constituencies.
Who sits in the chamber.
Liberal Democrats 53% · last contested 7 May 2026
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul Kadir | LD | Baffins | 2026 |
| Kate Dorrington | LD | Central Southsea | 2026 |
| Sam Coupland | Ref | Charles Dickens | 2026 |
| Carl Inman | Ref | Copnor | 2026 |
| Lamara Louise Fudge | Ref | Cosham | 2026 |
| Derek James North | Ind | Cosham | 2024 |
| Simon John Bosher | Con | Drayton Farlington | 2026 |
| Matthew Ray Winnington | LD | Eastney Craneswater | 2026 |
| Billy Ansell | LD | Fratton | 2026 |
| Russell Peter William Simpson | Ref | Hilsea | 2026 |
| Steve Pitt | LD | Milton | 2026 |
| Steve Andrews | LD | Nelson | 2026 |
Where revenue comes from.
This is a grant-heavy unitary authoritie: 46% from council tax vs the cohort median of 59%.
Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)
Band-D bill.
| Council slice | £1,818 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £275 |
| Fire & rescue | £88 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Total Band-D | £2,181 |
Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish
Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.
How does Portsmouth split its revenue across services, compared with peer unitary authoritie-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.
The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.
Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.
Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).
Top by total — last 180 days
| Supplier | Paid | Share | Pmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| VSBW JOINT VENTURE | £16.34m | 7.9% | 16 |
| ENSIGN HIGHWAYS LIMITED | £11.71m | 5.7% | 4 |
| MOUNTJOY LIMITED | £8.45m | 4.1% | 26 |
| COMSERV (UK) LIMITED | £6.92m | 3.3% | 4 |
| SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL | £6.35m | 3.1% | 19 |
| HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL | £6.09m | 2.9% | 393 |
| M GROUP ENERGY (AGILITY ECO SERVICES LIMITED | £5.72m | 2.8% | 29 |
| POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER FOR HAMPSHIRE | £5.57m | 2.7% | 8 |
| SOLENT ACADEMIES TRUST | £5.23m | 2.5% | 59 |
| CLASSIFIED AS 'PERSONAL DATA' (UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 2018) | £3.53m | 1.7% | 11,382 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate And Central | VSBW JOINT VENTURE | £11.03m |
| Highways And Transport | ENSIGN HIGHWAYS LIMITED | £8.78m |
| Housing And Homelessness | MOUNTJOY LIMITED | £5.34m |
| Childrens Services | SOLENT ACADEMIES TRUST | £3.90m |
| Adult Social Care | MILLBROOK HEALTHCARE GROUP LIMITED | £0.95m |
| Waste And Recycling | HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL | £0.89m |
| Culture And Leisure | BRYT ENERGY LTD | £0.17m |
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth North | 7 | 50% | Amanda Martin | Lab |
| Portsmouth South | 7 | 50% | Stephen Morgan | Lab |
Sources, methods & last update
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
vs 62 other unitary authorities
Police, Fire, Parish on top
48,959 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 31 Mar 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level