There is about to be a major change in how Local Government operates.
The new Labour Government has decided to merge local government functions; in our case, replacing existing borough councils and Surrey County Council with a small number of unitary authorities. Their motivation is to improve growth and reduce costs by combining the present two-tier system into one. It is also their intention to delegate some central government responsibilities to an elected mayor.
It has already been announced that Surrey will be one of the first authorities to merge in this way. We residents and voters will have no say in what happens. Unlike the devolution vote in Scotland there will be no voting, the politicians will decide for us!
At present, our Ward (Tattenham Corner & Preston) is represented by three borough councillors in the Borough of Reigate & Banstead and one Surrey County Council councillor (although the geography is split with one councillor responsible for Preston and another for Tattenham Corner).
At this time, it is not yet clear what the structure will be in Surrey. The White Paper suggests a minimum population of 500,000 for each new unitary authority. Current thinking is that Surrey, with a population of 1.2 million, could be split into two or three new Unitary Authorities, plus the Elected Mayor as a Strategic Mayoral Authority who sits alongside the structure. He/she would have new and extra powers and responsibilities delegated by government.
Our understanding is that many boroughs prefer a three-way split into East, West and North Surrey. We, along with Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley and Tandridge would combine to form the East Surrey Authority. There is also some talk of including Crawley (from West Sussex) in this group. This would result in Gatwick Airport being included in this new authority.
The current borough structure within Surrey
When the time comes, we will be able to vote for representatives for the new authorities and for the mayor.
The proposed timetable as it affects us is expected to be as follows:
May 2025 – Local council elections suspended (but note there will be a by-election for us as Nick Harrison will be retiring from Surrey County Council).
May 2026 – Elections for the new Unitary Authorities which will come into being in what the government call “shadow form”. They will have no powers or responsibilities but will have a year to get ready to take over in May 2027. Until then the boroughs and county council will retain their responsibilities.
May 2027 – The new Unitary Authorities take over.
May 2027 or May 2028 – Probable election of a Mayor who may operate in shadow form initially. The Mayor may cover an area larger than Surrey itself.
Whilst the detail is still far from clear, there are significant concerns that will have to be addressed before these new authorities can come into force. Will there have to be job losses? Who will look after the local issues currently managed by borough councillors? will it create more bureaucracy than it is meant to save?
A particular concern raised by Reigate & Banstead is the amount of debt some councils currently have. The government proposes that existing debts will be absorbed into the new authorities and a number of borough councils in Surrey have accumulated significant debts. Reigate & Banstead is the only council in Surrey with no debt, but Woking has a huge £2.1 billion brought about from unwise speculative property acquisitions and poorly managed green energy investments. We obviously do not want to take on a share of this massive debt.
So an interesting scenario which will affect everyone living in Surrey. Currently more questions than answers but, as usual, we will keep you informed of developments as they arise.
Surrey County Council has produced a short three minute video about their plans which can be viewed here: