Devolution: your chance to comment

The government is seeking the public’s views on its devolution proposals for Sussex, one of the few opportunities for local residents to have a direct say in the most drastic rearrangement of local government since the Second World War. It has also invited local councils to suggest how local government could be reorganised. Nick Terdre reports, research and graphics by Russell Hall.

Launched last week by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the public consultation seeks the views of “interested parties” on its proposals to form mayoral combined authorities or mayoral combined county authorities in the six areas, including Sussex, which were recently accepted by the ministry for the Devolution Priority Programme, the fast track to devolution.

As such it is only open to residents, businesses, public sector bodies and other interested parties in the six areas. In Sussex the East Sussex and West Sussex county councils and Brighton & Hove unitary authority propose combining with the aim of becoming the Sussex and Brighton Combined County Authority, as the ministry suggests titling it.

The eventual benefits offered to mayoral authorities are multi-year funding settlements with the freedom to make and fund policy in such key areas as housing, transport and health, as well as a seat for the mayor on the Council of the Nations and Regions and the Mayoral Council for England, high-level bodies in the devolution framework.

A separate consultation is being run for each of the six areas, with a deadline of 13 April. It can be responded to online, by email or by post. Jim McMahon, minister of state for local government and English devolution, said he encouraged “local residents to be part of our ‘devolution revolution’ by contributing to these consultations.”

Seven questions

The consultation comprises seven questions, for each of which the government proposals are briefly explained and respondents asked to indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement, and given the opportunity to explain their answer. Issues include whether respondents think the proposals for a mayoral combined county authority in Sussex will deliver benefits, whether they agree with the governance arrangements, and whether they think that the proposals will support the economy, improve social outcomes, local government services and the environment, and support the interests and needs of local communities.

Cllr Keith Glazier, the East Sussex County Council leader, greeted the launch with a statement extolling the government’s “plan to transfer more powers and funding to people in Sussex.” Devolution would allow “more decisions to be taken locally – on things like large transport projects, planning housing, and economic growth. Some of the funding for these will also be controlled locally,” he said.

“I believe it will give you (and our neighbours) a bigger say on decisions which are made at the moment in Westminster.”

Governance arrangements

Under the Devolution Priority Programme the county council elections due in May have been cancelled, maintaining the minority Conservative administration in East Sussex in power, and instead an election for a mayor for the Sussex and Brighton Combined County Authority will be held in May 2026. The mayor will be in office for four years.

Each of the constituent parts of the proposed Sussex combined county authority will appoint two representatives, and this seven-strong body will become the dominant decision-maker for the county when the combined county authority “goes live” in May 2026. Up to six non constituent and associate members can also be appointed by the unitary authorities to represent lower-tier councils or  public bodies such as NHS trusts, though they would not have a vote on the decision-making body.

Elections to shadow unitary authorities will follow in May 2027. The lower-tier authorities, including Hastings Borough Council and Rother District Council will continue to function for a further year, along with the county council, until all these bodies are abolished in 2028 when the new unitaries take over.

Reorganisation proposals invited

In parallel with the consultation the ministry has invited council leaders to develop their own proposals for local government reorganisation. While the government has laid out the ‘superstructure’ of devolution, based on the mayoral system as described above, the devolution white paper says little on how local government will function at local levels once the lower-tier authorities have been abolished, and this is a chance for councils to make their own recommendations.

An interim plan has to be submitted by 21 March, and the final proposal by 26 September. “A proposal should seek to achieve for the whole of the area concerned the establishment of a single tier of local government,” the ministry’s guidance says. “…the expectation is that one interim plan is jointly submitted by all councils in the area.”

That means that the East Sussex lower tier authorities must work together with ESCC and also with Brighton & Hove, as this is the combination designated by the ministry for the reorganisation proposal. Separately the seven lower-tier councils in West Sussex have been asked to work with their county council.

Why Brighton, one of the three legs of the Sussex mayoralty, has been lumped in with East Sussex for this purpose is unclear. The ministry’s preferred population size for the unitary authorities constituting the new mayoralties is 500,000 – at 280,000 Brighton falls well short, although if it combined with neighbouring authorities such as Adur (population 65,000) and Worthing (112,000), it would come close at 457,000. East Sussex (555,000) and West Sussex (901,000) meet the criterion.

Moreover, if Brighton remains on its own, the representational proportions will be seriously askew. The two Brighton constituent members will each represent 140,000 residents, while East Sussex’s will represent 277,000 and West Sussex’s 450,000.

The three unitary authorities which will make up the proposed Sussex and Brighton Combined County Authority. As shown in the interactive graphic, Brighton has a population well below the 500,000 which the MHCLG has suggested is the preferred level.

Diverging views

Coming up with a single agreed reorganisation proposal may prove difficult in East Sussex, where views on devolution diverge sharply between the lower-tier authorities and the county council. The former reacted angrily when the ESCC cabinet planned to apply for the devolution fast track without bothering to consult other parties or authorities. Thanks to the intervention of the ESCC Green councillors, an emergency Full Council meeting was held to discuss the matter, though a motion to retain May’s election was narrowly defeated.

A statement posted on HBC’s website earlier this month says that councillors have already made clear their opposition to the cancellation of the county council elections, the mayoral elections next year and the abolition of district councils, as well as the rushed timetable.

They have agreed to set up a cross-party working group to develop a collective alternative vision, based on the principle of a federal model that retains democracy as close to local communities as possible. “Hastings suggests that to achieve this, East Sussex County Council is abolished and the five districts combine to deliver all services in a new, accountable and efficient organisation with local councillors continuing to be elected to represent residents’ best interests, including working with the new Mayor of Sussex.”

In the words of council leader Julia Hilton, “We need to ensure that these new Mayoral Authorities actually empower local communities rather than suck power away and up into larger more distant structures."

Report for Full Council

The working group’s report, which will include HBC’s response to the devolution consultation while also setting out wider public consultation plans on the proposals for new unitary councils, will be published on 11 March, Hilton told HOT.

That is eight days before the Full Council meeting which will consider the working group’s recommendations on 19 March - this meeting, previously set for 26 February, has been rescheduled to provide more time for its work.

HBC says it is working with East Sussex County Council and the other districts and boroughs on a response to the government. However, with only two days between this meeting and the deadline for submission of the interim reorganisation plan, it is hard to see how the working group’s recommendations can be endorsed by Full Council in time to be included in a joint East Sussex and Brighton plan.

To meet HBC's pledge to take residents’ views into account, a local consultation exercise will be carried out after 21 March, Hilton told HOT.

 

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