More About Local Government Reorganisation

Just when we thought it was all done and dusted – the future of Adur District Council being to merge into one big Unitary Authority with Worthing, Arun and Chichester – another option has popped up for us to think about. As you may recall it was announced two months ago that Adur had thrown its lot in with all the other District and Borough Councils in West Sussex to divvy the county area into two Unitary Authorities as part of the devolution plan for Sussex and the associated local government re-organisation.

Originally, two options were on the table: the one that Adur eventually went for and another that had Adur merging with Mid-Sussex, Horsham and Crawley. We were all given a chance to have our say via the Shaping West Sussex consultation programme that finished in August. Adur listened and submitted its proposal to the Government. But just before the deadline at the end of September, Brighton & Hove City Council threw in a curve ball with a proposal to Government that encompassed the whole of Sussex, not just West Sussex which our options had been limited to.

Now the Government wants to hear your views about all the proposals that have been put forward for local government re-organisation in Sussex. There are four main ones:

• The one that Adur and the other District and Borough Councils in West Sussex unanimously supported;
• West Sussex County Council’s alternative proposal which is simply to absorb all the councils into one – which together with the County Council would form one huge Unitary Authority;
• The Brighton & Hove City Council idea (which has four minor variations);
• East Sussex’s proposal which is supported by most but not all the Districts in East Sussex.

Why you should do the survey

The summaries of each of the proposals are worth a read for the different perspectives they each reveal. Also, the Government thinks we could be interested and so they want to hear from us. We believe this is another opportunity to influence the long-term future for local government in and around Shoreham-by-Sea.

The Brighton & Hove proposal is especially worth paying attention to because it could have a direct impact on Adur. Essentially, Brighton & Hove’s proposal divides the whole of Sussex into five smaller Unitary Authorities by redrawing some of the boundaries. Adur would stay intact but become part of a smaller Unitary Authority with only Worthing and Arun but not Chichester. It would have a population of about 343,000, around 27% smaller than the option that Adur itself put forward. Remember, Adur District’s population is just 65,000 – by far the smallest District in the whole of Sussex.

Of course, there are pros and cons to all these proposals. Being part of a Unitary Authority with Chichester may have a greater Council Tax revenue per capita. On the other hand a smaller Unitary Authority might have a stronger identity and greater democratic control.

Your voice matters

We don’t have a crystal ball, but we all have thoughtful points of view and channels to express them through. Apparently, more residents from Adur responded to the Shaping West Sussex survey than anywhere else. We don’t know how much that may have influenced the option they chose. But now there is another option affecting Adur, the least we should do is pay some attention to it and say what we think to the Government.

You can read the Executive Summaries of the proposals and take the survey at https://consult.communities.gov.uk/local-government-reorganisation/east-sussex-brighton-and-hove-west-sussex/. The survey is open until 11 January 2026. The final decision will be made next spring by Steve Reed, The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.