20th March 2025
Dear colleague,
Our cabinet today agreed a plan setting out progress on developing a proposal for a single tier of local government in East Sussex. As things stand, a single unitary council on the existing boundaries of East Sussex County Council seems the most likely option to meet the government’s ambition and criteria for reorganisation and to best serve the county’s residents.
The interim plan has been developed with partners in each of the five boroughs and districts of East Sussex and recognises that our combined population of 550,000 accords with the guiding principle set by ministers that new unitary councils should aim for a population of 500,000 or more residents.
However, the interim plan recognises that other proposals may emerge which could be workable if they are fully evidenced, widely supported, and if the government changes its criteria.
If agreed, one or more unitary councils would replace East Sussex County Council and the five boroughs or districts of Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden, combining their services.
The interim plan stresses that reorganisation work is a shared endeavour among the six councils (which already rely on strong partnerships) but that extra resources from government will be needed to enable the complex transition as all local councils are already severely stretched.
The plan also suggests that a single unitary model would likely be least disruptive to existing services such as social care and education which already work on a county footprint and least disruptive to joint working with partners at a time when the public sector is under significant pressure. The plan suggests this approach would allow more energy to be invested in new place-based joint services, for example on housing.
Many successful shared services already exist across East Sussex, including a joint waste partnership, building control and procurement hub, and councils already collaborate, for example with the coming together of Lewes and Eastbourne councils.
Applying the lessons from these success stories could help build a resilient and streamlined new council to best serve our residents and businesses.
We and our district and borough colleagues look forward to discussing local government reform with you as part of our engagement, consultation and evidence-building with our key partners, residents and businesses.
We expect an initial response from the government to our interim plan later this spring. Final and fully developed proposals for unitary government in East Sussex will be submitted for the government’s next deadline in September. The government intends to see an end to the existing two-tier system in 2028.
New councils across Sussex will work closely to establish a mayoral combined county authority in 2026 as part of the government’s priority programme for devolution.
Our cabinet today also agreed a formal response to the government’s consultation on devolution, broadly welcoming its intention to devolve more funding and powers to the area.
We have highlighted some questions about powers and responsibilities and also governance, including a strong preference for the new body to be called “Sussex” rather than “Sussex and Brighton” as the consultation proposes.
The consultation can be found here: Sussex and Brighton Devolution Consultation – Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government . Should you wish to respond directly, the deadline for doing so is 13 April.
I hope you find this update helpful. Please let me know if you’d like any further information.
Yours sincerely,
Becky Shaw
Interim plan for local government reorganisation in East Sussex
East Sussex County Council’s response to the government consultation on devolution