Local profile · Portsmouth (unitary city council) · 2022–2026
4.5% of Portsmouth’s working-age residents claim work-related benefits, the highest share in Hampshire
In August 2026, 4.5% of residents aged 16–64 in Portsmouth were on the claimant count, 0.5 percentage points above England’s 4.0%. Figures are for Portsmouth council area; compare them with the other 12 areas below.
Evidence last reviewed 3 October 2026
The evidence
How many working-age residents claim work-related benefits?
4.5%
England 4.0% (August 2026). Hampshire range 1.8% (Hart) to 4.5% (Portsmouth). Highest of 13 Hampshire areas.
Claimant rates across Hampshire over time →Portsmouth council area · August 2026
Source: How many working-age residents claim work-related benefits?
Official statistic · ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2), Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64
How many neighbourhoods are among England’s most deprived?
12.0%
England 10.0% (2025). Hampshire range 0.0% (Winchester) to 12.0% (Portsmouth). Highest of 13 Hampshire areas.
Inequality in the UK →Portsmouth council area · 2025
Source: How many neighbourhoods are among England’s most deprived?
Official statistic · MHCLG, English Indices of Deprivation 2025, Local authority summaries: proportion of LSOAs in the most deprived 10% nationally
How long can a boy born here expect to live?
78.1 yrs
England 79.5 yrs (2022 to 2024). Hampshire range 78.0 yrs (Southampton) to 83.7 yrs (Hart). 12th highest of 13 Hampshire areas.
How healthy life differs by deprivation in England →Portsmouth council area · 2022 to 2024
Source: How long can a boy born here expect to live?
Official statistic · ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024, Life expectancy at birth, by sex
How does Portsmouth compare?
Portsmouth: claimant rate 4.5%, the highest of 13 areas; Hart is lowest at 1.8%
People claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance who are required to look for work, as a percentage of residents aged 16–64, August 2026. Not the unemployment rate.
August 2026England 4.0%
- Portsmouth4.5%
- Southampton4.2%
- Gosport3.6%
- Havant3.3%
- Rushmoor3.0%
- Basingstoke and Deane2.7%
- Eastleigh2.3%
- New Forest2.3%
- Winchester2.1%
- East Hampshire2.1%
- Fareham2.0%
- Test Valley2.0%
- Hart1.8%
Portsmouth has the highest claimant rate (4.5%) and Hart the lowest (1.8%); 2 of 13 areas are above England’s 4.0%. Portsmouth is 4.5%, 0.5 percentage points above England (1st highest of 13). An administrative count, not unemployment: some claimants are in low-paid work and asked to look for more, and many unemployed people claim nothing. Not seasonally adjusted; the latest month is provisional.
Ceremonial Hampshire’s 13 council areas (11 districts, Portsmouth and Southampton) · August 2026 · Official statistic
Sources, definitions and data — Portsmouth: claimant rate 4.5%, the highest of 13 areas; Hart is lowest at 1.8%
- Geography:
- Ceremonial Hampshire’s 13 council areas (11 districts, Portsmouth and Southampton)
- Measure:
- % of residents aged 16–64
- Period:
- August 2026
- Status:
- Official statistic
- Calculation:
- As published by the source.
- Compare with:
- England 4.0%, August 2026
Source: ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2), Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64. Chart HANTS-02.
View the data as a table
| Area | % of residents aged 16–64 | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 4.5% | August 2026 |
| Southampton | 4.2% | August 2026 |
| Gosport | 3.6% | August 2026 |
| Havant | 3.3% | August 2026 |
| Rushmoor | 3.0% | August 2026 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | 2.7% | August 2026 |
| Eastleigh | 2.3% | August 2026 |
| New Forest | 2.3% | August 2026 |
| Winchester | 2.1% | August 2026 |
| East Hampshire | 2.1% | August 2026 |
| Fareham | 2.0% | August 2026 |
| Test Valley | 2.0% | August 2026 |
| Hart | 1.8% | August 2026 |
Compare Portsmouth with any other area on another measure: compare Hampshire’s 13 areas.
Is Portsmouth getting better?
Mixed — and the measures moving fastest in the wrong direction get the least attention. Every tile links to the evidence behind it: what is driving the number, what has been tried, what worked, and what it would cost to do something different.
6
8
9
6 worsening8 improving9 no direction
Housing
Worsening
11%
Homes built as a share of the government's own target for Portsmouth
Portsmouth is building a ninth of the homes it is required to
Under the December 2024 NPPF, delivery below 75% of the requirement means the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies to housing applications. Portsmouth is at 11%.
The same test returned 26% in 2023 and 22% in 2024, so this is a three-year slide.
- Measure
- Homes delivered vs required, Housing Delivery Test
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- 2022-23 to 2024-25 · MHCLG
Why delivery collapsed, and what could change it
Flat
3,125
Records on the council's combined HMO register (3,107 in licensed categories)
3,125 records on the combined HMO register
Planning policy tests each new application against a 10% threshold within 50 metres — a decision rule, not a cap on the total.
The threshold is a decision test, not a measure of existing stock
- Measure
- Records on the council's combined HMO register
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- September 2026 · Portsmouth City Council
How HMO policy works and what the threshold actually does
Flat
733
People in Portsmouth receiving Home Office asylum support
733 people supported, one hotel in use
Of those 733 people, 656 were in dispersal accommodation rather than hotels.
No comparable earlier local figure is published
- Measure
- Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- September 2024 · Portsmouth City Council / Home Office
Who decides placements and what is genuinely known
Education
Worsening
3.55%
Pupils missing half or more of school, vs Southampton and England
Severe school absence is still rising
England 2.39%
1.69% in 2018/19 — more than doubled
- Measure
- Pupils missing 50%+ of sessions
- Area
- Portsmouth state-funded schools
- Period
- 2024/25 · Department for Education
Absence trends, causes and the EBSA evidence gap
Improving
42.9%
EHC plans issued inside the 20-week legal deadline
EHC plan timeliness has recovered sharply
England 45.5% — now almost level
Fell to 1.6% in 2023 from 97% in 2021
- Measure
- New EHC plans issued within 20 weeks
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- Calendar 2025 · Department for Education
The 2023 collapse, the recovery, and what is unexplained
Worsening
35.2%
Pupils passing English and maths GCSE at grade 5+, vs Southampton and England
Barely a third of pupils get a strong pass in English and maths
England reached 45.4% and Southampton 38.9%, so Portsmouth trails its closest comparable city by 3.7 percentage points.
The rate was 34.4% in 2023/24 and 31.6% in 2022/23, so it is recovering slowly from a sharp fall.
- Measure
- Pupils achieving grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE
- Area
- Portsmouth state-funded schools
- Period
- 2024/25 · DfE
Full GCSE series, cohort sizes and the Southampton gap
Rising
7.17%
Share of Portsmouth pupils holding an EHC plan, vs Southampton and England
One pupil in fourteen now has an EHC plan
Southampton is at 6.72% and England at 6.04%. Portsmouth sat below Southampton for six years and overtook it this year.
The rate was 3.64% in 2018/19, so it has almost doubled in seven years.
- Measure
- Pupils on a school roll holding an Education, Health and Care plan
- Area
- Portsmouth schools, all types
- Period
- January 2026 school census · DfE
What a rising EHCP rate does and does not tell you
Skills
Falling
5.5%
16-17 year olds not in education, employment or training
Measured NEET fell, but the council lost track of far more
England stands at 3.4%. The widely-quoted Portsmouth figure of 11.5% adds in a further 6.05% of young people whose destination is simply not known.
Measured NEET was 5.97% in 2025, so the number confirmed as NEET actually went down.
- Measure
- 16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- 2026 · DfE
Why the headline figure overstates the rise
Flat
491
Pupils on roll at UTC Portsmouth against its approved capacity — one part of the skills picture, shown because it is the only 14-19 technical route with published local data
The technical school built for these pathways is a sixth empty
The school is approved for 600 places, so roughly one place in six is unfilled.
Latest inspection report published January 2026
- Measure
- Pupils on roll against capacity, UTC Portsmouth
- Area
- UTC Portsmouth
- Period
- Ofsted provider record, inspection published January 2026 · Ofsted
Skills pathways, NEET and what the UTC can and cannot fix
Environment
Improving
937 incidents
Fly-tipping incidents recorded by the council each year
Fly-tipping is falling here while it rises nationally
Incidents of fly-tipping in Portsmouth have fallen by 14.2%, while incidents across England have risen by 9.1%.
There were 1,092 incidents in 2023/24, and 525 in 2021/22 — so the fall is real but the level remains well above 2021.
- Measure
- Recorded fly-tipping incidents
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- 2024/25 · Defra
Why people fly-tip, what deters it, and what it costs
Worsening
Poor
Environment Agency annual rating for Southsea East beach
One Southsea bathing water is still rated Poor
Eastney, the other Southsea site, is rated Good
The Poor classification has persisted
- Measure
- Bathing water classification
- Area
- Southsea East sampling point
- Period
- 2025 classification · Environment Agency
Classification history, pollution warnings and the sewage evidence
Improving
12 µg/m³
Roadside nitrogen dioxide at the city's monitored streets
Air quality has improved substantially
Down from 27 in 2001; zero streets in breach at the Jan 2026 assessment
Roadside NO2 down from 31 (2018) to 19
- Measure
- NO2 annual mean
- Area
- Hilsea urban background monitor
- Period
- 2025 · Defra UK-AIR
The full compliance timeline and what the CAZ did and did not do
Health
Improving
192.1
Deaths before 75 that could have been avoided by treatment or prevention
Preventable deaths run 27% above England
England 151.2 — Portsmouth worse in every period on record
Peaked at 209.1 in 2020–22; now falling
- Measure
- Under-75 deaths from preventable causes, age-standardised
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- 2022-24 pooled · OHID
What drives the gap and which services affect it
Improving
30.2%
Adults seen by an NHS dentist in the past two years
Only three in ten adults see an NHS dentist
England 40.0% — a 10-point gap
28.4% a year earlier; 41.8% in March 2020
- Measure
- Adults seen by an NHS dentist in 24 months
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- To March 2026 · NHS BSA
Access data, contract problems and possible remedies
Transport
Improving
11.9m journeys
Bus journeys taken across Portsmouth each year
Bus use has recovered past pre-pandemic levels
Above the 11.0m of 2019 — England is still ~10% below
Fell to 3.9m in 2021, fully recovered since
- Measure
- Local bus passenger journeys
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- Year to March 2025 · DfT
Patronage, funding and where the network still falls short
Improving
5.2%
Residents in work who travel by bicycle
Portsmouth cycles at 2.5x the England rate
Across England, 2.1% of workers cycle to work — Portsmouth is two and a half times that rate.
The council's own plan identifies continuity and crossing gaps in the network
- Measure
- Residents in employment cycling to work
- Area
- Portsmouth local authority
- Period
- Census 2021 · ONS / Portsmouth City Council LCWIP
The planned network, its gaps, and what completing it needs
Council
Worsening
~60p in every £1
Share of council service spending taken by adult and children's social care
Social care is squeezing everything else
Children's services and adult social care combined
Adults +64% and children +62% since 2017/18, against +49% for the whole budget
- Measure
- Share of service budget on adult and children's social care
- Area
- Portsmouth City Council
- Period
- 2025/26 budget · Portsmouth City Council budget reports
Where the money goes and what is being squeezed
Flat
£22.3m
Usable general-fund reserves against the minimum the council must hold
Reserves are flat, but the required floor keeps rising
Against a minimum of £12m
Balance broadly unchanged; the minimum has risen from £8m to £12m
- Measure
- General fund working balance
- Area
- Portsmouth City Council
- Period
- 2026/27 forecast · Portsmouth City Council
Council finances, risk and the audit position
How these were chosen, and what is missing
These are indicators that are genuinely measured, comparable over time, and have an honest direction of travel. Population is deliberately excluded — a rising or falling population is not "better" or "worse". Where a measure has no meaningful good/bad direction, none is shown. Several important domains are not yet represented here because the underlying research is incomplete: temporary accommodation and homelessness, and household-level cost-of-living measures such as fuel poverty and food insecurity.
Issues in Portsmouth
Is Portsmouth building the homes it is required to?308 homes were delivered against a requirement of 2,702 over 2022–23 to 2024–25 — a Housing Delivery Test result of 11% (HDT 2025, published 17 Aug 2026). A three-year test, not a one-year building rate.Why delivery fell, and what could change it.Read the chapter → Is Portsmouth building the homes it is required to? Shared homes: how many HMOs, and where?Houses in multiple occupation by ward, what the register does and does not count, and the planning rules.The register is not the same as all licensed HMOs.Read the chapter → Shared homes: how many HMOs, and where? How many neighbourhoods are among England’s most deprived?12.0% of Portsmouth’s neighbourhoods were in England’s most deprived 10% on the 2025 Indices of Deprivation — England’s share is 10% by definition.Income, wealth and place, measured nationally.Read the chapter → How many neighbourhoods are among England’s most deprived? How much crime is recorded by the police?Police recorded 112.5 crimes per 1,000 residents in Portsmouth from September 2025 to August 2026 (police.uk, excluding anti-social behaviour); England’s official rate was 83.4 for the year to March 2026, a different source.How local recorded crime differs from national survey estimates.Read the chapter → How much crime is recorded by the police?
Crime recorded in Portsmouth
Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026
23,794 crimes were recorded by the police in the Portsmouth council area from September 2025 to August 2026: 112.5 per 1,000 residents, the 2nd highest of Hampshire’s 13 areas. A further 2,995 anti-social behaviour incidents are counted separately.
Rates are per resident. Places that draw large numbers of shoppers, commuters, students, visitors and night-time crowds — Portsmouth and Southampton city centres above all — record crimes against people who do not live there, so their rates overstate the risk to residents. Recorded crime also reflects how often crimes are reported and how forces record them, not only how much crime happens.
England’s official rate was 83.4 per 1,000 (ONS police recorded crime excluding fraud, year ending March 2026) — a different source and year, so read the gap (+29.1) as approximate.
What kinds of crime are recorded in Portsmouth?
Violence and sexual offences make up 44% of recorded crime in Portsmouth
Crimes by police.uk category, September 2025 to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour (2,995 incidents) is not a crime and is not included.
- Violence and sexual offences10,440 (44%)
- Shoplifting3,072 (13%)
- Public order2,218 (9%)
- Criminal damage and arson1,636 (7%)
- Other theft1,578 (7%)
- Vehicle crime1,382 (6%)
- Drugs1,057 (4%)
- Burglary597 (3%)
- Bicycle theft431 (2%)
- Other crime418 (2%)
- Robbery399 (2%)
- Possession of weapons384 (2%)
- Theft from the person182 (under 1%)
Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026. Categories are police.uk’s own groupings and are broad: “violence and sexual offences” runs from harassment to serious assault. Recorded crime depends on reporting and recording as well as offending. For the year to March 2026, ONS counted 24,163 crimes in Portsmouth (excluding fraud); police.uk shows 23,346 for the same months (−3.4%).
Portsmouth council area · September 2025 to August 2026 · Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
Sources, definitions and data — Violence and sexual offences make up 44% of recorded crime in Portsmouth
- Geography:
- Portsmouth council area
- Measure:
- crimes (count) and share of all crimes
- Period:
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Status:
- Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
- Calculation:
- police.uk street-level records counted by category and assigned to the council area by map point; anti-social behaviour and British Transport Police records excluded.
- Not included / breaks:
- Fraud (not on police.uk); crimes with no usable location; anti-social behaviour (shown separately).
Source: police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), POST https://data.police.uk/api/crimes-street/all-crime, months 2025-09 to 2026-08, by council-area polygon; retrieved 3 October 2026. Chart HANTS-04.
View the data as a table
| Category | Crimes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 10,440 | 43.9% |
| Shoplifting | 3,072 | 12.9% |
| Public order | 2,218 | 9.3% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 1,636 | 6.9% |
| Other theft | 1,578 | 6.6% |
| Vehicle crime | 1,382 | 5.8% |
| Drugs | 1,057 | 4.4% |
| Burglary | 597 | 2.5% |
| Bicycle theft | 431 | 1.8% |
| Other crime | 418 | 1.8% |
| Robbery | 399 | 1.7% |
| Possession of weapons | 384 | 1.6% |
| Theft from the person | 182 | 0.8% |
| All crimes (excluding anti-social behaviour) | 23,794 | 100% |
| Anti-social behaviour (not a crime) | 2,995 | — |
How does recorded crime in Portsmouth move month by month?
1,983 crimes a month on average in Portsmouth; the busiest month was July 2026
Police-recorded crimes per month, excluding anti-social behaviour, September 2025 to August 2026.
The busiest month was July 2026 (2,300) and the quietest February 2026 (1,743). Recorded crime usually rises in summer and dips in winter, and one year is too short to call a trend. Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026.
Portsmouth council area · September 2025 to August 2026 · Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
Sources, definitions and data — 1,983 crimes a month on average in Portsmouth; the busiest month was July 2026
- Geography:
- Portsmouth council area
- Measure:
- crimes per month
- Period:
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Status:
- Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
- Calculation:
- Monthly counts of police.uk street-level crimes assigned to the council area by map point.
- Not included / breaks:
- Fraud; crimes with no usable location; anti-social behaviour (in the table only).
Source: police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), POST https://data.police.uk/api/crimes-street/all-crime, months 2025-09 to 2026-08, by council-area polygon; retrieved 3 October 2026. Chart HANTS-05.
View the data as a table
| Month | Crimes (excluding anti-social behaviour) | Anti-social behaviour incidents |
|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 1,965 | 239 |
| October 2025 | 1,942 | 245 |
| November 2025 | 1,870 | 197 |
| December 2025 | 1,786 | 182 |
| January 2026 | 1,822 | 202 |
| February 2026 | 1,743 | 175 |
| March 2026 | 1,999 | 263 |
| April 2026 | 1,897 | 266 |
| May 2026 | 2,208 | 314 |
| June 2026 | 2,079 | 260 |
| July 2026 | 2,300 | 322 |
| August 2026 | 2,183 | 330 |
How this compares with the official statistics
For the year to March 2026, ONS counted 24,163 crimes in Portsmouth (excluding fraud); police.uk shows 23,346 for the same months (−3.4%). The official series comes from the ONS and is the one used for national figures; police.uk is used here because it gives all 13 areas the same months, with categories and monthly detail. Why the two differ
Current status
- Who runs the council
- Liberal Democrat majority (record checked 2026-08-01)
- MPs (2024 general election)
- Portsmouth North — Amanda Martin (Labour); Portsmouth South — Stephen Morgan (Labour). Constituency and council boundaries differ.
- Local government reorganisation
- Decision withdrawn; reorganisation under government review (checked 2026-09-23). Portsmouth council continues unchanged. What was decided and withdrawn
Party control and representatives across the county: Hampshire political map.
Who can change this?
Raise an issue with the body that holds the power. Responsibilities follow the two-tier split: the 11 districts share Hampshire County Council for schools, social care and public health, while Portsmouth and Southampton run all of these themselves.
| Issue | Local council | County / combined authority | NHS and police | Central government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing supply and affordability | Portsmouth City Council: local plan, planning decisions, homelessness duty, its own council housing where held | Highways, schools and other infrastructure that sites need | — | MHCLG: national planning policy and housing targets; Homes England: affordable-housing funding |
| Work and benefits | Portsmouth City Council: local economic development and employment support | Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority: adult skills (from August 2027) and strategic growth | NHS: health-related support to stay in work | DWP and Jobcentre Plus: Universal Credit and conditionality |
| School attendance | Portsmouth City Council: the local authority for schools | Portsmouth City Council (unitary: also the upper tier): attendance support under DfE’s statutory guidance | NHS: children’s mental health services | DfE: funding and attendance policy; schools and academy trusts |
| Health and life expectancy | Portsmouth City Council: housing standards, leisure, environmental health | Portsmouth City Council (unitary: also the upper tier): public health duty and grant | NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB: commissioning; GP practices and trusts: care | DHSC: NHS funding and public health grant |
| Crime and safety | Portsmouth City Council: Community Safety Partnership, licensing, CCTV | — | Police and Crime Commissioner: police plan and budget; Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary: operations | Home Office: police funding formula and law |
Connections
- Claimant rates across Hampshire over time
The national jobs story, and the claimant count’s own definition and history. DWP and Jobcentre Plus set and run Universal Credit conditionality; councils and the combined county authority run employment and skills support.
- Inequality in the UK
Income, wealth and place, measured nationally. Many bodies: national tax and benefits, councils, the NHS and employers. No single local body controls it.
- Compare Portsmouth with another area
Put any two Hampshire areas side by side on the same measure and period.
- Which bodies cover this area?
ICB, police, education and social-care responsibilities for each of the 13 areas.
Everything in the Portsmouth section
- Issues →Each issue in the same shape: how big, which way it is moving, and who can change it.
- All statistics →Every measure we hold for Portsmouth, each against the other 12 Hampshire areas.
- Your area →Ward and constituency detail for your part of the city.
- Projects →What is officially proposed, funded or underway — the council’s plan, not ours.
- Suggested action plan →UK Facts’ own suggestions, kept separate from council policy.
- Claims vs evidence →Recurring public claims tested against official and regulator sources.
- Council and money →Where the budget goes, what social care takes, and the reserves position.
- Politics and MPs →Portsmouth North and Portsmouth South, from official Parliament data.
I live in Portsmouth
Find your ward, your constituency and what the data says about your part of the city.
I want to understand an issue
Eight issues, each with the evidence, the scale, the trend and what is being done.
I need to contact or challenge someone
Find who actually holds the power over an issue — it is often not the council.
What residents told University of Portsmouth researchers
What kind of evidence this is
Qualitative community-based study — one-to-one conversations plus a single group event. 24 contributors in total (18 one-to-one, 6 at a group event), recruited through community organisations — self-selected, and the report makes no claim to be representative of Portsmouth. It contains no survey percentages, so nothing below is a population estimate: these are themes from what a small number of residents described.
Booking a GP appointment was itself described as the barrier, ahead of the appointment
Participants described barriers at the point of booking — being required to use an online form or to telephone at a fixed time — and reported that all booking routes were impractical for people who work, lack internet access or confidence, or lack the physical dexterity to use a phone.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.6
Some participants had stopped seeking primary care altogether, and presented later in emergency settings
The report states that many people have given up trying to seek help and either hoped they got better or accessed emergency services once seriously unwell, and links this to pressure on Emergency Departments and Urgent Treatment Centres.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.57
Digital-by-default access was the single barrier that recurred across every service area
The report's first key recommendation is that reliance on telephones and the internet acts as a barrier to healthcare, housing and education alike, and that alternatives must be made available rather than assumed away.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.59
Where mental health support was obtained, participants described it being withdrawn rather than tapered
Mental health services were reported as not always accessible, with no clarity about who could refer someone, and support that was often withdrawn once gained.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.57
NHS dental care was described as closed to some participants entirely — not merely delayed
Dental care was reported as not accessible for all, with some participants unable to join a patient list at all and others facing delays and cancellations.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
Community groups and centres were the one part of the system participants consistently valued
Support groups, community centres, churches and similar spaces were valued and described as an alternative route to mental wellbeing, but were seen as under-funded and hard to sustain, and public transport limited who could reach them.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
Qualifying for social housing required meeting several categories of need at once, and applying online
To access housing, individuals needed to use online platforms and email; the report states there is a lack of appropriate social housing in the city and that families must comply with multiple categories of need to qualify.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
Condition and suitability, not only supply — private landlords not acting, and a shortage of wheelchair-accessible stock
The report states that landlords do not always take the necessary action to keep privately rented housing in an appropriate state, that shared accommodation affected mental health and wellbeing, and that stock suitable for wheelchair users was not considered adequate.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
The 16–18 transition from school to college was the weakest point described in education
For older children moving from secondary school to college, the report identifies poor information about local provision, the cost of travelling to college, and — for young people with learning disabilities — safety concerns when attending college only a few hours per week, which in turn constrained parents' ability to work.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
Named incidental costs — holiday clubs and school trips — were described as decisive for lower-income parents
Financial concerns affected working parents and adults seeking education, specifically the cost of holiday clubs and of school trips; the report recommends considering how lower-income parents might be supported to pay for both.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
Participants wanted to work; the barriers they named were employer understanding, transport and inflexible roles
The report states that participants believed there is a lack of understanding and indeed discrimination among employers regarding disabilities, that local transport options did not support travel to work, and that despite these challenges people did want to work in ways accessible to them. Gaps in a CV or overseas employment history were also described as barriers.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.58
For children with SEND, services were described as disconnected, with families passed between teams
The report identifies a further area beyond its original five: health and education for children with special educational needs or disabilities. Services were described as disconnected, with children passed from one team to another; it calls for joined-up working and a single point of access, and notes inconsistent support between schools and inconsistent application of EHCPs.
18 one-to-one participants living in PO1–PO6 (3 men, 15 women, ages 38–76, 15 with a long-term condition or disability), plus one event with 6 attendees who work with residents of deprived areas. Self-selected, recruited through community organisations; not a representative sample of Portsmouth. · Qualitative community-based study: one-to-one conversations plus one group event, grouped by topic then thematically analysed. No survey instrument, no percentages, no population estimate. · p.59
Portsmouth research
Published research about Portsmouth from the University of Portsmouth and peer-reviewed journals, covering healthcare access, young people's mental health, housing, coastal flood risk and the local energy transition.
This section is research and analysis, not official statistics. It is included to show the range of work that exists on a question — including proposals and hypotheses — not to establish what is true. Items marked as working papers, preprints or institutional reports have not been peer-reviewed. Where an official statistic exists on the same question, that statistic is what this site treats as the fact.
Institutional report — not peer-reviewed2024· University of Portsmouth (Institute of Life Sciences and Healthcare), commissioned by and published by Healthwatch Portsmouth· Portsmouth (PO1–PO6)
The Challenges Facing Portsmouth Residents: A Community-based Research Study
Jennifer Karen Roddis, Nuno Tavares, Elizabeth Anne Roffe
A qualitative study in which 18 residents of PO1–PO6, plus six people who work with residents of deprived areas, described the barriers they meet in healthcare, housing, education, employment and community support — and proposed their own solutions.
Since publication: Two things, both checked on 28 August 2026. First, the deprivation framing in its background section rests on the English Indices of Deprivation 2019, which was superseded by IoD2025 on 30 October 2025 — so the "15 of 115 areas in the lowest decile" line it quotes is out of date and must be re-derived. Second, the same team ran a follow-on project, "Addressing challenges to accessing mental health and dementia support for Portsmouth residents through co-design of patient pathways" (University of Portsmouth with Healthwatch Portsmouth and Bournemouth University, 23 August 2024 to 22 August 2025), whose Portal record was marked finished but listed no published outputs, so the co-designed pathways it produced are not yet citable.
The University of Portsmouth Research Portal record is public, but the Portal's own PDF download is not openly accessible. The PDF link above is the copy in the national Healthwatch reports library, which is the identical 870KB, 62-page document. Findings from this report are shown separately below, each with its sample size attached.
Peer-reviewed2025· University of Portsmouth — Centre for Integrated Health and Wellbeing· United Kingdom — by a Portsmouth research group, but the paper does not state that its eight participants live in Portsmouth, so it is not evidence about this city specifically
The GP's a stranger: an interpretive phenomenological analysis exploring patient experiences of changed access to primary care in the management of long-term conditions
Sandra Walker, Tansy Daniel, Mediha Yildizcan, Jennifer Karen Roddis
Eight people living with long-term physical or mental health conditions described a primary care system in which they no longer have a relationship with any one clinician — the paper's organising theme, "the GP's a stranger" — and the effect that has on whether they trust and act on the advice they are given.
Since publication: Nothing material on the record itself: checked 28 August 2026, the open-access Frontiers article page resolves and carries no correction or retraction, and the Portal lists no successor paper from this team. What has changed is around it — NHS primary care access arrangements have continued to move since the interviews were conducted, so this is evidence about how patients experienced a changing system, not a description of how booking works in Portsmouth today.
Open access (CC BY). Listed here because it is the closest peer-reviewed work by the same Portsmouth group to the primary-care access theme that dominates the Challenges report — not as a Portsmouth measurement.
Peer-reviewed2023· Solent NHS Trust — Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Portsmouth· Portsmouth
The viability of a proposed psychoeducational neurodiversity approach in children services: The PANDA (the Portsmouth alliance's neuro-diversity approach)
Zach D. Dunn, Asha Gowda, Isobel C. Horsfall Turner
A feasibility study of the Portsmouth Alliance Neuro-Diversity Approach, a co-produced alternative to a binary diagnostic pathway, in which 51 young people, parents and professionals took part; the authors report a significant improvement in children's wellbeing but not in symptom management, and describe the study as limited in scope.
Since publication: The paper is explicitly a feasibility study and its authors call for further work on the approach; the Crossref record for the DOI, checked 28 August 2026, carries no correction, retraction or update notice. Whether the Portsmouth Alliance still runs the PANDA in the form described is a question for the Alliance, not something that can be inferred from a 2023 feasibility paper.
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 29(1), pp.198–212. The full text is behind the publisher's access controls and was NOT read; title, authors, affiliations, pagination and the complete abstract were verified through Crossref. Nothing is claimed here beyond what that abstract states. Not a University of Portsmouth output — it is a Solent NHS Trust study, included because it is real, in-window and specifically about this city.
Institutional report — not peer-reviewed2024· Coastal Partners (Portsmouth) with Royal HaskoningDHV· Portsmouth
Protecting Portsmouth: The UK's Island City
A. Prior, C. Toovey, L. A. Sheffield, M. L. Bryan
A conference paper on protecting Portsmouth as an island city, presented by the Coastal Partners team responsible for delivering the city's coastal defences and published in the ICE Coasts, Marine Structures and Breakwaters 2023 proceedings.
Since publication: The paper was given at a conference held in 2023 and published in January 2024. Portsmouth's coastal defence programme is delivered in phases and continues to move, so this should be read as the delivery body's account of the programme at that time; Coastal Partners' current published position is the place to check the scheme's present state, not this paper.
METADATA ONLY — the full text was NOT read. The DOI resolves to Emerald's ICE proceedings platform, which is not openly accessible. Title, authors, affiliations, venue and pagination (pp.19–37) were verified through Crossref. It is labelled conservatively as an institutional report because there is no separate "conference paper" category here; the true form is a paper in the ICE Coasts, Marine Structures and Breakwaters 2023 proceedings. The summary above deliberately claims nothing about its findings.
Institutional report — not peer-reviewed2021· University of Portsmouth — School of Civil Engineering & Surveying· Portsmouth Harbour
Field investigation and numerical modelling of drainage systems in coastal regions
Steve Mitchell, Oluwatosin Abdulfatai Onabule
Using field data from Portsmouth Harbour with a numerical model, the authors show how land drainage outlets carve and maintain channels through the harbour's intertidal mudflats and export sediment and water into it — and that flap gates increase that export sharply on spring tides and under high freshwater flows.
Since publication: Nothing material found on the record: the Portal entry, checked 28 August 2026, shows no later version or corrigendum. Two caveats matter more than that. It sits at the very edge of the five-year empirical window and will need a staleness flag from 2027. And its Portsmouth Harbour field campaign predates the later phases of the city's coastal defence works, so its measurements describe the harbour as it was observed, not necessarily as it now drains.
Conditions have moved on — Published 2021, at the outer edge of the five-year empirical window and outside it from 2027. The field campaign predates the coastal defence works completed in Portsmouth since, so its measured drainage behaviour describes the system as it was, not as built today. Use the method and the modelling approach; do not read its measurements as current conditions.
Published in "Towards a Sustainable Water Future" (ICE Publishing), pp.371–382. `status` is recorded conservatively as institutional_report because the Portal classifies it "Conference contribution" WITHOUT a peer-review tag, and ResearchStatus has no "conference paper" member. Abstract read in full from the Portal record.
Institutional report — not peer-reviewed2017· Project Compass CIC, with the University of Portsmouth research record· Portsmouth — Southsea frontage and Common
Portsmouth the island city: building better flood resilience for Southsea's frontage + common: for a more sustainable Portsmouth
Walter Menteth
A 44-page report from the international Portsmouth Elephant Cage design research programme (2016–17), which evaluated the sea defence proposals then on the table for the Southsea frontage, set out an alternative design intended to add amenity and ecological value to Southsea Common, and recommended actions to address what it argued were shortfalls in the existing proposals.
Since publication: This is a 2017 critique of the sea defence proposals as they stood in 2017. The scheme has moved on since, so nothing in it should be read as a description of what is currently proposed or built along the Southsea frontage — check Coastal Partners' current published scheme for that. What remains usable is the argument about how design options for a coastal city get narrowed early, which is a mechanism claim rather than a dated fact.
ISBN 978-0-9931481-3-2, published in London by Project Compass CIC; the Portal marks it externally published. Portal record and full abstract read; the 24.9MB PDF sits on the Portal's Cloudflare-protected /files/ tree and was not retrieved.
Peer-reviewed2018· Walter Menteth Architects / Project Compass CIC, with the University of Portsmouth research record· Portsmouth (Southsea) and Cork, Ireland
Coastal flood resilience: delivering thriving waterfront cities
Walter Menteth
Argues that resilient design for coastal cities is constrained less by engineering than by process — narrow remits, bureaucratic momentum and the inability to iterate publicly — using Portsmouth's Southsea frontage proposals and the comparable situation in Cork as its two cases.
Since publication: The Southsea and Cork proposals it compares were live proposals at the time of writing and both cities' schemes have since progressed, so the chapter is no longer a description of either scheme. Its value now is the process argument, which is why it is filed as a mechanism rather than an empirical source.
Chapter 10, pp.80–85, of "The Cork Papers: Sustainable City in the Making" (ed. Angela Brady), Cork City Council, CC BY-NC. This is the only chapter or proceedings item in this module that the Portal explicitly tags "Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review", which is why it alone carries peer_reviewed status.
Thesis2016· University of Portsmouth — School of Civil Engineering & Surveying· Portsmouth — Hilsea, Eastney and St Thomas wards
Portsmouth Coastal Flood Vulnerability and Risk: assessment and mapping of impacts at microscale
Sarah Percival
Develops a coastal flood vulnerability and risk method that works at Output Area level and distinguishes daytime from night-time exposure, and applies it to three Portsmouth wards — Hilsea, Eastney and St Thomas — finding that the extra resolution identifies neighbourhoods a coarser assessment misses.
Since publication: Its population inputs are the 2011 Census, which the 2021 Census has replaced, and its defence assumptions predate the current Portsmouth coastal defence programme. The specific ward and neighbourhood risk rankings should therefore not be quoted as current risk for anywhere in the city; what survives is the microscale, day/night method and the general point that ward-level averages hide the neighbourhoods that matter.
Conditions have moved on — Population and household inputs are 2011 Census, superseded by the 2021 Census; hazard assumptions predate the current coastal defence programme. Use the METHOD, not the 2016 risk maps or the named at-risk neighbourhoods.
Doctoral thesis, awarded June 2016, supervised by Richard Teeuw and Andy Gale. Portal record and full abstract read; the 25.6MB thesis PDF sits on the Portal's Cloudflare-protected /files/ tree and was not retrieved. Categorised as `mechanism` because what this module would use is its method — the empirical risk maps inside it are older than the empirical window and the staleness flag above says so explicitly.
Institutional report — not peer-reviewed2025· University of Portsmouth — School of Energy and Electronic Engineering, with University of Chichester and University of Wollongong in Dubai· Portsmouth
Seasonal dynamics of green hydrogen supply and demand: a spatio temporal study of freight transport in Portsmouth City UK
Oghenovo Okpako, Imran Usman Sumda, Kelvin Anoh, Haile Selassie Rajamani
A 2050 scenario study which sites offshore wind and hydrogen production for Portsmouth using GIS, simulates seasonal supply against the city's road-freight demand, finds a seasonal mismatch between the two, and proposes a dynamic pricing model to shift consumption into surplus periods.
Since publication: Nothing material found: the Portal record, checked 28 August 2026, lists no later version and the DOI resolves. The far more important caveat is what the paper is — a modelled 2050 scenario built on assumed offshore wind resource and assumed freight demand, whose pricing proposal is an output of the model. It is not an observed Portsmouth hydrogen price and must never be rendered as one.
IEEE SEGE 2025 proceedings, pp.275–281. Abstract read in full from the Portal record; the IEEE Xplore full text is paywalled. It is labelled conservatively as an institutional report because the Portal classifies it "Conference contribution" without a peer-review tag. Filed under energy cost modelling deliberately — it proposes a pricing model, so it is exactly the category the pre-2022 hard cutoff exists for, and at 2025 it clears that cutoff.
All figures for Portsmouth
Every comparable measure held for the 13 areas, with its own period and comparator. Survey estimates and measures with mixed periods are not ranked.
| Measure | Portsmouth | England / GB | Hampshire range | Period | Status and source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claimant rate | 4.5% | 4.0% (England, August 2026) | 1.8% (Hart) – 4.5% (Portsmouth) | August 2026 | Official statistic · ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2) |
| Employment rate | 77.8% | 75.5% (GB, Apr 2025-Mar 2026) | 73.3% (Southampton) – 87.6% (Fareham) | Apr 2025-Mar 2026 | Survey estimate · ONS Annual Population Survey via Nomis |
| Median full-time earnings (residents) | £36,457 | £40,014 (England, 2025) | £36,457 (Portsmouth) – £48,256 (Hart) | 2025 | Official statistic · ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, resident analysis, via Nomis |
| House price to earnings ratio | 7.1× | 7.4× (England, House price: year ending Mar 2026. Earnings: 2025.) | 6.8× (Gosport) – 10.5× (Winchester) | Year ending Mar 2026 house price / 2025 earnings | Site calculation · ONS median house prices for administrative geographies (HPSSA) |
| Median house price | £260,000 | £295,000 (England, Year ending Mar 2026) | £252,000 (Gosport) – £467,500 (Winchester) | Year ending Mar 2026 | Official statistic · ONS median house prices for administrative geographies (HPSSA) |
| Persistent absence | 19.7% | 18.1% (England, 2024/25) | 12.7% (Hart) – 21.5% (Southampton) | 2024/25 | Official statistic · DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25 |
| Male life expectancy at birth | 78.1 yrs | 79.5 yrs (England, 2022 to 2024) | 78.0 yrs (Southampton) – 83.7 yrs (Hart) | 2022 to 2024 | Official statistic · ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024 |
| Female life expectancy at birth | 82.6 yrs | 83.3 yrs (England, 2022 to 2024) | 82.3 yrs (Gosport) – 86.3 yrs (Winchester) | 2022 to 2024 | Official statistic · ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024 |
| Neighbourhoods in England’s most deprived 10% | 12.0% | 10.0% (England, 2025) | 0.0% (Winchester) – 12.0% (Portsmouth) | 2025 | Official statistic · MHCLG, English Indices of Deprivation 2025 |
| Police-recorded crime rate | 112.5 | 83.4 (England, year ending March 2026) | 37.1 (Hart) – 118.8 (Southampton) | September 2025 to August 2026 | Administrative data · police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary) |
Sources and methods (12)
- ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2), Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64 — Claimant rate, every area and England, monthly (stored series).
- ONS Annual Population Survey via Nomis, Employment rate, aged 16–64 — Employment rate, April 2025 to March 2026; Great Britain comparator.
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, resident analysis, via Nomis, Median gross weekly pay, full-time workers, by place of residence — Median full-time resident earnings, 2025.
- ONS median house prices for administrative geographies (HPSSA), Median price paid, all dwellings — Median house prices; with ASHE, the house-price-to-earnings ratio.
- DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25, Absence by school location (local authority district basis) — Persistent absence by school location, 2024/25, and England.
- ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024, Life expectancy at birth, by sex — Life expectancy at birth by sex, 2022–2024.
- MHCLG, English Indices of Deprivation 2025, Local authority summaries: proportion of LSOAs in the most deprived 10% nationally (released 30 October 2025) — Share of neighbourhoods in England’s most deprived 10%.
- police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), POST https://data.police.uk/api/crimes-street/all-crime, months 2025-09 to 2026-08, by council-area polygon; retrieved 3 October 2026 — Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026: every area’s crime totals, categories, monthly counts and anti-social behaviour.
- ONS, Crime in England and Wales: Police force area data tables, year ending march 2026, P1 (force counts), P3 (force rates), C2 (CSP counts), C4 (CSP rates) (released 23 July 2026) — The official check: police recorded crime by force and Community Safety Partnership, year to March 2026 (tables P1, P3, C2, C4), and England’s rate.
- ONS mid-year population estimates, mid-2025, all ages (Nomis dataset NM_31_1) — Resident populations (mid-2025) for crime rates per 1,000.
- NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB: changes from 1 April 2026 — ICB boundary change, 1 April 2026.
- Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority — Combined county authority status and powers.
Method notes
- Each local page’s headline is chosen by a site rule, not written by hand: among measures with a matched England comparator and one period for all 13 areas, the selector scores |distance from the Hampshire median| + 0.5 × |distance from England|, both in cross-area standard deviations, and takes the highest. Survey estimates (employment rate), measures with mixed periods, and crime (its England comparator is a different source) cannot lead. Below a score of 0.75 the page uses a neutral fallback.
- County figures are never invented. Rates are shown as ranges across the 13 areas, with the lowest and highest named, because a pooled employment rate needs each area’s employed and 16–64 population counts and a pooled absence rate needs pupil enrolments — this site holds neither. Population is a genuine sum.
- England comparators: claimant count, absence, life expectancy and deprivation share the local period. So does the house-price-to-earnings ratio. Crime is compared with England’s ONS rate for the year to March 2026, a different source, which is flagged beside the figure. The employment comparator is Great Britain because Nomis publishes no England figure in that series.
- Ranks are given only for administrative measures with one period. Survey estimates show no rank.
- Winchester figures cover Winchester district, not just the city.
- Crime (September 2025 to August 2026): every crime police.uk published for the 13 areas, fetched month by month from the police.uk API for a polygon around each council area, de-duplicated and assigned to the area its anonymised map point falls in (unsimplified ONS boundaries; 17 points on the coast that fell between boundary lines went to the nearest area within 1 km). Anti-social behaviour and British Transport Police records are kept out of crime totals. Rates use ONS mid-2025 resident populations. The method and script are in scripts/police-uk/; a check against the site’s separately built police.uk archive series for Portsmouth and Southampton (assigned by neighbourhood code, not by map point) agrees to within one crime a month.
- Crime is checked against the ONS official figures (police force area and Community Safety Partnership tables, year ending March 2026). Over the same 12 months (April 2025 to March 2026), police.uk shows 135,156 crimes in the 13 areas against 137,696 in the ONS tables (−1.8%). Area by area the two are within 3.4% of each other; police.uk is lower in most areas and slightly higher in a few. For the whole force, including the Isle of Wight, police.uk is 4.1% below ONS, mostly because ONS also counts 3,316 offences it could not place in any area.
- Crime is not used to lead a page: the comparator for England is a different source, and resident-based rates overstate risk where many non-residents visit. Areas are ranked only with that caveat beside the rank.