Local Government Reform – South Thames Region

The biggest shake-up of local government is well underway, with a distribution of power from central government in the form of new Mayoral Strategic Authorities; and a shake-up of local government via the creation of new Unitary Authorities. When people think of devolution they often think about the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and, potentially, the regions of Greater Manchester, Liverpool and the North-East. Undoubtedly, devolution has led to better decision making in areas such as transport and healthcare, where most people think that it makes sense and where local decision makers are often better placed and informed about local needs.

Wider devolution

Around 90% of those living in the north of England are covered by some form of devolution arrangement, compared with just 46% in the south of England. The Labour Government wants this to change and last February there were six new areas confirmed to join the government’s Devolution Priority Programme; Cumbria, Cheshire and Warrington, Norfolk and Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex and Brighton and Hampshire and Solent. As the Government’s Press Release, ‘Devolution revolution: six areas to elect Mayors for first time’, outlines, it wants to deliver ‘on the government’s commitment to widen devolution’ and that these six areas bring ‘8.8 million under mayoral devolution, or another 15.38% of the population’, bringing the total population who will see the benefit from devolution ‘to over 44 million’.

Sussex and Brighton & Hove

Let’s focus on Sussex and Brighton and Hove for a moment. Firstly, Brighton and Hove and East and West Sussex County Councils have agreed to support devolution in Sussex, with a strategic authority and elected Mayor. Furthermore, elections for a Mayor for Sussex and Brighton are due to take place in May 2026, with these two developments happening after an expression of interest from the three councils to join the government’s devolution programme following their respective cabinet meetings on the 9th January 2025.

Once set up and established, the new East and West Sussex and Brighton and Hove entity will be called a Mayoral Strategic Authority, giving residents, businesses, communities and organisations a much stronger voice and the combined area having a more focused strategic leadership. At the moment, there is no immediate change to how local councils operate or the services they provide, and, apart from a by-election for the Westbourne and Poets Corner ward on the 1st May, which the now Labour Party Councillor, Sam Parrott, won by 894 votes, there were no local elections planned in the city, hence the Labour majority council was unaffected. A Mayoral Strategic Authority is a new and separate tier of local government and the one for Sussex will have a population of 1.7 million.

Hampshire

Meanwhile, the Leader of Hampshire County Council, Cllr Nick Adams-King, gave an update on their devolution plans in March of this year given that Hampshire and Solent is part of the Devolution Priority Programme. Hampshire has a budget of £2.87 billion and the Leader himself admitted that current funding models ‘can not keep pace with rising costs’. Reform therefore feels inevitable. However, local government reform alone can not solve individual councils financial problems. As Cllr Adams-King outlined in his presentation, the UK Government will provide some funds towards taking it forward but expects that, over time, the costs of transition will be met from council’s existing budgets. Interestingly, the UK Government also expects that ‘the potential for capital receipts’, such as the sale of buildings that will no longer be needed when there are fewer councils, can generate additional income towards the costs. Current local council budget deficits will also continue to be locally managed. In Hampshire’s own analysis, these reforms make geographical economic sense and there seems to be a consensus towards the need for change on the ground in places such as central Brighton, having spoken to local Councillors recently. Again, this may be because they have seen the success of the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham’s, transport reforms and want to see some of that change in the city too.

Elsewhere

Elsewhere, we have seen talk of Reading Council joining with Swindon and Crawley Borough Council potentially merging with Tandridge District Council, only for the Leader, Catherine Sayer, to distance herself from the Crawley option. Indeed, neighbouring Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have also been in talks with Crawley about potentially forming one council, with a proposal subsequently put forward to the UK Government. In response, campaigners in Crawley have started a petition to keep the town’s historic identity as a so-called ‘new town’, showing that local government reform also has its detractors!

Surrey

Over in Surrey, and, given that the deadline has now passed for local authorities to submit their final proposals for devolution to the UK Government, the situation is complicated. Surrey County Council has proposed creating two new unitary authorities; one in the east and one in the west, and this has the support of Elmbridge Borough Council and Mole Valley District Council, but not others, such as Reigate and Banstead, mentioned earlier. Another proposal, backed by nine of the Borough and District Councils in Surrey, proposed that Surrey be split into three unitary authorities. This is backed by Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, Guildford Borough Council, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Runnymede Borough Council, Spelthorne Borough Council, Surrey Heath Borough Council, both Waverley and Woking Borough Council and Tandridge District Council. Then there is the proposed merger between Reigate and Banstead and Crawley, which has a rationale based around the increased economic benefits of the larger entity being part of an economic area close to Gatwick airport.

Furthermore, it is thought that the proposal would help with building new homes in places like Redhill Aerodrome and land near Salfords. All three of the proposals we eventually submitted to the UK Government. According to a Elmbridge Borough Council press release on the issue, the Council has been told to expect a final decision on the issue in the autumn.

Kent

In regards to Kent, Dover District Council announced that Councils in Kent and Medway have already received a response from the UK Government on the interim proposals to replace the current system of local government. Posted by the Government on the 19th May, the feedback acknowledged the ‘positive partnership working’ by the 12 Borough and District Councils, Medway Council and Kent County Council to shape high-quality and sustainable services for local residents. The Government also welcomed the initial thinking on the options for LGR in Kent and Medway, recognising that they are at an early stage and that further analysis is planned. The initial proposals for the area were submitted on the 21st March from all 14 Councils, outlining the joint position that any future geography for new unitary councils is ‘likely to be on the basis of either 3 or 4 unitary councils, with the precise geography for each still to be determined. Therefore, the next few weeks and months will determine quite a few local and regional administrative boundaries for a long time to come.