Decision

1. Noted that Portsmouth City Council will seek to nominate representatives to the voluntary /Joint Committee that will be doing the preparatory work to prepare for LGR for the new SE Hampshire Unitary authority.
2. Noted that at the time of writing this report it is not certain how many representatives Portsmouth will need to appoint to this voluntary / Joint Committee, but we are working on the representation, as determined by MHCLG, of 8 seats/votes.

3a.      Agreed that delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to finalise the list of appointees to the voluntary / Joint Committee once it is clear how many the Council will need to appoint.

3b.      Delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the authority to approve (once drafted) the Terms of Reference and Procedural Rules for the Voluntary Joint Committee and the subsequent Joint Committee to be established in advance of and once the Structural Changes Order has been made. If approved the City Solicitor to be authorised to make any necessary changes to the Council's Constitution if required.

1. Agreed that the position of Portsmouth City Council, as is, would be to support the name of the new unitary authority to be "Portsmouth & South East Hampshire….." with a fallback that the name must include Portsmouth.
2. Agreed that the new authority should have 14 wards, with three councillors for each ward, covering the existing Portsmouth City Council area.
3. Agreed that Charter Trustee route be used to secure City status and civic and ceremonial matters for Portsmouth.