Council reiterates stance on Local Government Reorganisation

Wealden District Council has reaffirmed its view that Local Government Reorganisation in East Sussex should be paused.

In September last year, when East Sussex County Council submitted its proposal for a single unitary council for East Sussex - and Brighton and Hove City Council submitted its own proposal for five unitary councils across the whole of east and west Sussex -Wealden councillors said they felt they could not support either of the options.

In a written statement to the Secretary of State at the time, Wealden made it clear that both proposals identified that local government finance is broken and that no reorganisation can change that stark reality.

Both proposals, say councillors, would lead to much higher Council Tax for Wealden residents and a significant reduction in services to meet financial deficits in the system. If anything, the situation has now been made worse for most councils in East Sussex by the government’s recently concluded review of local government funding.

Now, in response to formal consultation from the government on proposals for Local Government Reorganisation in West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, Wealden has reaffirmed its fears for what reorganisation might mean for its residents.

Councillors believe the whole process has been dangerously rushed. East Sussex opted for the fast track for reorganisation, which limited the time for making a proposal on the basis that a mayor for Sussex would be elected in May 2026.

The government has postponed that election until May 2028 making fast tracking largely pointless, say councillors.

Wealden District Council’s leader Councillor James Partridge said, "We were already concerned that the restructure of local government in East Sussex was being rushed and that we could only see financial disbenefits to our residents.

“The consultation on the two options accepted by the government as valid for East Sussex and Brighton itself has felt rushed, only running for six weeks and over the busy Christmas season.

“We are restating our call to the government to put a halt on any changes to local government structures in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove until they are able to reassure us Wealden residents will not be disadvantaged by any changes. “