SOUTHAMPTON is in better shape to handle deep public spending cuts and economic shocks than its south coast rival Portsmouth, according to a new study.

But while areas like Winchester and the Test Valley were judged to be among the most resilient to economic turbulence of any part of England, Gosport – along with Portsmouth and Southampton – were among the most vulnerable to business failures and job losses.

T he economic study, conducted by analysts Experian, was carried out ahead of the severe cuts expected to be announced in next month’s Government spending review, when departments will be ordered to cut their budgets by 25 per cent or more over the next parliament.

The study ranked all local authority areas in England by their relative resilience or vulnerability.

Southampton was placed 230th out of 324 authorities – in the bottom third nationally, but higher than Portsmouth, which languished in 291st position.

Shadow communities Secretary John Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “This is proof once again that the Tory-Liberal Government has broken its promise not to ‘balance the books on the back of the poorest’. When the cuts to local services were announced I said that it is the cities, the struggling seasides, former industrial towns, and ex-coalfield areas that are affected the most.

“In the 1980s under the Tory government, areas of the country were written off, leaving a terrible legacy of broken communities that took years to recover.

Now the Tories and the Liberal Democrats are repeating this mistake.”

The findings were based on a study of each district’s businesses, communities, people and places, the amount of vulnerable and resilient industry within each area, the life expectancy of residents, earnings of workers, unemployment and crime rates.

Nationally, the area best placed was Elmbridge in Surrey, while Middlesborough in North Yorkshire was ranked the most vulnerable, revealing a noticeable north-south divide.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the large spending cuts, which would start next April, would be “spread evenly”

over the next four years – equivalent to an annual six per cent budget reduction.

Mr Clegg, arguing that the books needed to be balanced quickly, said: “Denying the need to sort out the public finances will lead to big problems in the longer term.”