Council Reform Chaos
Paul McLaughlin
The government’s plans for the most radical shake-up of local government structures in a generation appear to be descending into chaos after last week’s announcement that the upcoming mayoral elections will be delayed for two years. The first mayoral election across East & West Sussex and Brighton will now be held in May 2028 instead of next May.
Cllr Glenn Haffenden
Ministers justified the delay by stating that local government reorganisation in Sussex (and also in Hampshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk) must be completed before a new mayor assumes office. This extra preparatory time, they argue, will allow the new mayors to build capacity and “hit the ground running” when they take up their roles in 2028.
The government launched its ambitious local government reform plans just before Christmas last year with seemingly no preparation or prior consultation with those who were to be directly impacted. Ministers set deadlines which many council observers always regarded as being impossibly tight. They have been proved right.
The delay to the mayoral elections is an acknowledgement that local government reorganisation is a complex and time-consuming process. Creating new unitary authorities and combined authorities while continuing to provide decent public services in the face of financial pressures was always going to be a challenge, particularly for councils which have been starved of resources for over a decade.
Glenn Haffenden, the Leader of Hastings Borough Council, said he and his colleagues were given “no prior warning” of the cancellation of the elections and “have been left in the dark” about how this will impact other parts of the government’s devolution and local government reform plans. For example, he said the post of Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), which was to be abolished next year with functions absorbed into a new Mayoral Combined County Authority, was not referenced in the government statement. This will “inevitably cause confusion” about who will set an annual budget for Sussex Police, appoint its chief constables and produce a policing plan.
The council leader was scathing in his criticism of the government saying “councillors and officers of East Sussex CC and Hastings BC have worked tirelessly to prepare for the changes. They diverted resources and met every deadline presented to them only to find that their efforts were in vain.” Such is the confusion that he now even doubts whether local government reform will proceed.
Local Conservatives accused Labour of “running scared” and of “denying democracy” in postponing the mayoral elections. Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, said his party was considering legal action as the decision, he said, was “designed to prevent Reform from winning.”
The decision to cancel the mayoral elections coincided with the launch of the government’s latest consultation on plans to establish new unitary authorities across Sussex. Residents, businesses and stakeholders are being encouraged to give their feedback on two plans. The first option is for three new councils across the county along the current footprints of East Sussex CC, West Sussex CC and Brighton and Hove. The second option is for five unitary councils with Hastings included in a new coastal authority. The consultation closes on 11 January 2026.
Click here to respond to the consultation: consult.communities.gov.uk/local-government-reorganisation/east-sussex-brighton-and-hove-west-sussex
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