Services
Who is responsible for what — and the most common mix-ups. Every service links to the router, which tells you where to go.
Who controls what
Responsibilities in UK local government are genuinely shared and often overlap — this is a guide to where the most decisive lever sits, not a claim that one body is solely accountable. Where responsibility is truly split (housing being the clearest example), this says so rather than picking a single body for the sake of a tidy answer.
Sewage discharges & bathing water quality
Common mix-up: Sewage discharges are frequently raised with the city council, which does not own, operate or regulate the sewer network and cannot stop a discharge. The council's genuine levers are narrow (planning and drainage); the decisive ones sit with Southern Water and its regulators.
What you can do: Report a specific discharge or pollution incident to the Environment Agency's 24-hour incident line; raise systemic concerns with Ofwat and with your MP, who can question Defra ministers directly.
Also involved: Environment Agency (Sets and enforces discharge permits, monitors bathing water, prosecutes breaches); Ofwat (Economic regulator — sets what the company may spend and charge, and levies performance penalties); UK Government (Defra) (Sets the legal framework and enforcement powers); Portsmouth City Council (Limited: planning and highway drainage decisions that affect surface-water load)
Fly-tipping & waste dumping
Common mix-up: This is one of the issues where the council genuinely is the primary responsible body — but its enforcement capacity is the binding constraint (17 fixed penalty notices against 1,092 recorded incidents in a single year), not its willingness. Bigger fines do not, by themselves, add enforcement officers.
What you can do: Report incidents directly to Portsmouth City Council (this also builds the evidence base for hotspot enforcement); check any waste carrier you pay against the free national register before handing over waste.
Also involved: Environment Agency (Leads on large-scale/organised waste crime rather than individual incidents); UK Government (Defra) (Sets penalty levels and the waste-carrier licensing regime (reform due 2027)); Hampshire & IoW Constabulary (Involved where vehicle seizure or associated criminality arises)
GP access, dentistry & hospital waiting times
Common mix-up: Queen Alexandra Hospital serves a catchment far larger than Portsmouth (roughly 675,000 people across Portsmouth, Havant, Fareham, Gosport and the Isle of Wight). Its activity figures should never be read as a measure of Portsmouth residents' demand alone.
What you can do: Formal complaints go to the provider first, then the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; systemic concerns are genuinely MP territory, since funding and workforce policy are national.
Also involved: Individual GP practices and dental providers (Independent contractors, not directly council- or NHS-managed staff); Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (Runs Queen Alexandra Hospital and its waiting lists); UK Government (DHSC) (Sets national funding, workforce planning and the NHS contract framework); Portsmouth City Council (Public health functions and adult social care — which affect hospital discharge, but not waiting lists directly)
Crime, antisocial behaviour & policing priorities
Common mix-up: Sentencing is set nationally by Parliament and applied by independent courts — neither the council nor the local force controls it, so a council motion calling for tougher sentences is a lobbying act, not an operational decision.
What you can do: Report crime to the police (101/999 as appropriate); raise policing priorities and resourcing with the Police and Crime Commissioner, who is directly elected for exactly this purpose.
Also involved: Police and Crime Commissioner (Sets the local policing plan and budget, holds the Chief Constable to account); Home Office (National policing funding, legislation and sentencing framework); Portsmouth City Council (Community safety partnership duties, CCTV, licensing, ASB civil powers)
Housing — availability, affordability and standards
Common mix-up: Housing is the clearest case where no single body can fix the problem. The council can grant permission but cannot compel building; government sets the funding but does not build; developers build but respond to viability. Blaming any one of them alone misdescribes how the system works.
What you can do: Disrepair and licensing issues in a private tenancy are council enforcement matters; affordability and benefit levels are national policy, and therefore MP matters.
Also involved: Portsmouth City Council (Council housing stock, homelessness duty, planning decisions, HMO licensing, private-rented enforcement); UK Government (MHCLG) (National planning policy, housing finance, Right to Buy rules, private-rental legislation); Homes England (Grant funding that determines whether affordable schemes are viable); Private developers and landlords (Actually build and let the great majority of homes); DWP (Housing benefit / Universal Credit housing element — sets what low-income renters can afford)
Local government reorganisation (the proposed "super council")
Common mix-up: The decision on whether Portsmouth City Council continues to exist in its current form is a central government one. The council's judicial review challenges the process, not the principle — courts assess lawfulness, not whether a merger is a good idea. The March 2026 decision was withdrawn on 7 September 2026 and the programme is under government review.
What you can do: Respond to any government consultation directly, and raise it with your MP — this is squarely a Westminster decision.
Also involved: Portsmouth City Council (Can respond, lobby and — as it has done — seek judicial review, but cannot veto); Neighbouring authorities (Gosport, Fareham and Havant were the merger partners in the March 2026 decision, withdrawn on 7 September 2026)