We report on the Full Council budget meeting of Feb 24th and discuss the recent by election results in Gorton & Denton, & in Shirley, as well as the fresh news this weekend of the US attack on Iran.

Among other things, the Council will discuss and hopefully approve a budget for 2025/26 for Portsmouth. A surprise change at the start of the meeting - with the last two members of the Portsmouth Independents Party (PIP) defecting to Reform - bringing the Reform Councillors to 10 and cementing them as the official opposition on Portsmouth City Council.

How much will Council Tax be going up this year?

With a backdrop of looming local government reorganisation uncertainty, rising costs and ever increasing draws of the public purse - how will Portsmouth balance it’s budget? What investments will be made to make lives better for residents and businesses? Which projects will, and which projects won’t get funded?

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We take a look at the leaders’ questions on this week’s PMQs.

As Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces off Kemi Badenoch with a side order of Ed Davey and a dash of Nigel Farage - Who comes off best? What questions actually get answers?

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There are few things that get Portsmouth residents excited nearly as much as the apparently endless roadworks, struggles with parking, the prevalence of potholes. Are you Peeved with EV? Are you bonkers about buses?

1. Why are there so many roadworks?
2. Are residents' parking zones (RPZs) just a money making scheme that pushes problems to other streets?
3. What are '15 minute cities' - are they a centralised control or just a pragmatic way to create neighbourhoods that are less car centric?
4. Does the city's Clean Air Zone (CAZ) work in reducing pollution or just push traffic and pollution elsewhere?
5. Why we shouldn't rule out buses if they're slow, inconvenient, confusingly ticketed and expensive?

We’ll be taking a deep-dive into all things Traffic & Transportation with Cllr Peter Candlish.

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