Portsmouth City Council has approved an increase of nearly £15,000 to councillor allowances after an independent review found the city’s rates among the lowest.
The decision comes after the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) highlighted pay gaps between Portsmouth and other councils, particularly for key roles such as the leader, deputy leader, and committee chairs.
Stef Nienaltowski, chair of the IRP, noted that Portsmouth ranked at the bottom for four out of seven special responsibility allowances compared to other councils. He pointed out that the deputy leader currently receives no allowance, while the average in other councils is over £20,000 per year.
Under the new changes, the leader’s allowance will rise from £23,499 to £28,721, with a new allowance introduced for the deputy leader. The Lord Mayor’s allowance will increase from £9,139 to £11,842.
The licensing and planning committee chairs will also see increases, with the licensing chair’s allowance rising to £5,874.75 and the planning chair’s allowance increasing to £7,180.25.
Councillor George Madgwick criticised the higher increase for the planning chair, arguing it undervalued the licensing committee’s work. He called it an “insult to the licensing department” and suggested increasing the licensing chair’s allowance, but his proposal was rejected.
Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson defended the independent panel’s findings, saying councillors should not pick and choose which parts of the report to accept. “We should either accept the whole lot or reject the whole lot,” he said. “We appoint an independent panel to look at this, it is an incredibly invidious position that all of us are in, being asked to vote on how much we get paid.”
Cllr Steve Pitt, leader of the council agreed, stating “elected members of the council should not be casting votes or having opinions on what their level of remuneration is.”
The recommendations were approved, resulting in an increase of £12,190 in 2025/26 and a total rise of £14,957 by 2026/27, with funding expected to come from existing portfolio budgets.
All Portsmouth Independents Party (PIP) councillors voted against the proposal. Councillors from national parties supported it, except for Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, who abstained, along with Independent Cllr Cal Corkery.
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