Draft plans for West Sussex council reorganisation are submitted

The eight county, district and borough councils sent the government their joint ideas on Friday (March 21) and must have a full business plan ready to go in September.

The draft plan tables a couple of suggestions – combining all district and borough councils into one unitary authority on the existing county footprint; or forming two smaller unitaries, with the footprint still to be decided.

The submission was discussed during a county council meeting in Chichester, where leader Paul Marshall stressed that no decisions had been made. The draft simply gave the government an idea of where the councils stood.

Mr Marshall said: “The decision on unitaries is going to be made by government, not by this chamber and not by any of the other district councils.

“We’re all working, cross-party politically and through our Chief Executive Officers to look at what’s best for West Sussex residents and businesses in terms of this Local Government Reorganisation.”

Before things can begin to take shape, there are a number of questions. Not least among them is whether Brighton & Hove, which is already a unitary authority, will need to expand, absorbing parts of its neighbouring councils to take its population up from 280,000 to the required 500,000.

On top of that, they need to work out where Crawley fits in, given the borough’s recent discussions with Reigate & Banstead council about linking with Surrey – though Surrey’s plans don’t seem to include Crawley at all.

Mr Marshall said: “Personally I’d be quite happy if Brighton wants to remain at 280,000 and we can just work on a West Sussex proposition.”

As for Crawley, he added that the borough was ‘part of West Sussex – a very valuable part of West Sussex – and I want it to remain part of West Sussex’.

Overall, the councils are seeking clear guidelines from the government on population size limits, funding, time-lines, and the impact of the Devolution Bill, which is running alongside Local Government Reorganisation.

Looking at funding, the estimated cost to West Sussex of the reorganisation will be £30m, though that figure will need to be properly calculated and will probably end up being higher.

The councils have had very little time to get things to where they are, so there has been no opportunity for a proper consultation. The interim plan commits to extensive consultation with residents, businesses and wider stakeholders as the proposals develop.

It also highlights possible public service reforms and improvements, particularly in areas such as homelessness prevention and social care.