What is it?
England is one of the most centralised countries in the developed world, with many big decisions taken by the UK Parliament, rather than local leaders.
Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and London have had devolved authorities for some time, more recently followed by Manchester, West Midlands, and others.
The new Labour Government want to simplify the Local Government system into Unitary Authorities, which take on the roles currently performed by County Councils and District/Borough Councils. These Unitary Authorities will replace current Councils and deliver the same services.
Above them, will sit a Strategic Authority, most likely led by a Mayor, who takes a strategic approach to boosting the local economy and improving the local area – separate to the service delivery which will be the job of the Unitary Authority.
Why?
The current system of Local Government is complicated and inconsistent. Having multiple Councils covering the same area but doing different things is often confusing and is more expensive. Unitary Authorities simplify Local Government and reduce operating costs so more can be focused on the delivery of services.
HM Government believes that Mayors can use their mandate for change to take the difficult decisions needed to drive growth, their standing and soft power to convene local partners to tackle shared problems, and their platform to tackle the obstacles to growth that need a regional and more holistic approach. Mayors are likely to have strategic decision-making powers on transport, skills, housing, planning, growth and the environment.
What does Surrey look like now?
Currently, Surrey is made up of:
A County Council responsible for things like education (schools and youth services), social services, highways, fire and rescue services, libraries, waste disposal.
11 District/Borough Councils are responsible for things like housing, planning, waste collection, leisure, environmental health, and revenue collection.
What will Surrey look like after?
At this stage, nothing has been confirmed. The facts are these:
- HM Government want universal coverage of Unitary and Strategic Authorities.
- They want each Unitary to have a population of at least 500k.
- Where possible, they want each Strategic Authority to have a population of 1.5m made up of two or more Unitary Authorities.
Surrey has a population of 1.2m, so there could be a Mayor of Surrey with two Unitary Authorities replacing the 12 current Councils.
There could be a single Unitary for Surrey, with a Strategic Authority covering a wider footprint.
The Minister will look at the options and make a decision, which should be communicated to us soon.
The exact boundaries of what these hypothetical authorities will be is undecided, as there are a few ways to split up the County each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
Elections
If Surrey is in the first wave of reorganisation, it is likely that the May 2025 elections will be postponed.
This is because holding elections for a Council that is soon to be dissolved would require another set of elections shortly after, so HM Government has taken the view that it would be better to simply delay the election.
The last election cost over £1.2m, and estimates for 2025 are higher.
If Surrey isn’t in the first wave, the May 2025 election will go ahead and the reorganisation will happen at a later date, but before 2030.
Was this in your manifesto?
This decision was not taken by the Surrey County Council Conservatives.
This is the plan from the new Labour Government.
As local residents and as Councillors with years of knowledge of how the Council and the local area operate, we want to make sure that whatever comes from the reorganisation works for our residents.
Can we refuse to be reorganised?
Not really. Labour have a large majority in Parliament, and they have demonstrated very clearly they will use it in order to push ahead with their plans.
We have two options:
- Engage with the process and try to make it work for our residents so it can be the best it possibly can be
- Resist and have something forced onto us
We believe it is best to work with HM Government and make sure that the new system is right for Surrey.
We have been asked to submit a proposal. We have ideas which we believe work for Surrey and meet the objectives set out in the White Paper, and will therefore be setting these out in writing this week.
HM Government will review these options and make a decision in due course.
