Have your say on local government reorganisation (and the abolition of HBC)

Local government is being reorganised – did you know? Your views are sought on what shape this should take. Both Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council have launched public consultations, involving online surveys, and, in HBC’s case, meetings and focus groups. Nick Terdre reports, research and graphics by Russell Hall.

Though it seems to have gone unnoticed in many quarters, the deepest shake-up of local government for decades is currently under way courtesy of the devolution process now being implemented by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. One of the effects of this will be to put an end to Hastings Borough Council, along with the Rother, Eastbourne, Lewes and Wealden councils, as well as East Sussex County Council.

Instead it is the government’s desire to have unitary authorities which will perform all of the functions and duties of the current borough, district and county councils taking over local governance of Sussex, under the umbrella of a new strategic authority headed by an elected mayor for the whole of Sussex.

Along with the mayor, six appointees will preside over the Sussex strategic authority, two each from East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, with one of these appointed deputy mayor, until vesting day for the new unitaries, planned for April 2028, when appointees will be drawn from the new unitaries.

How the unitaries in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove will relate to the grassroots, once the existing  councils have gone, is not known. However, it seems that these councils, which submitted initials ideas on reorganising local goverment in March, will have a say in deciding this, as in the feedback letter they have received, the ministry says: “In final proposal(s) we would welcome detail on your plans for neighbourhood-based governance, the impact on parish councils, and thoughts about formal neighbourhood partnerships and area committees.”

Meanwhile councils want to get feedback from residents on how they think local government should be reorganised. HBC has launched an online survey, and flyers will be posted out. Three meetings have been arranged: drop-in sessions at Asda in Silverhill on Wednesday 11 June and Tesco in Hollington on Friday 13 June, both from 10.30am to 12.30pm, and an evening session from 6 to 8pm in the council chamber at Muriel Matters House on Thursday 12 June. Residents wishing to ask questions at the latter meeting are asked to submit them in advance to consultation@hastings.gov.uk.

Further meetings will be arranged during June.

Cllr Julia Hilton says residents will be asked what they value about the services currently provided by HBC and ESCC and how they think a new council could do better. Previously the council leader, Hilton has recently swapped with her deputy, Cllr Glenn Haffenden, and taken on the deputy role, while still remaining the lead on local government reorganisation.

Improvement

Whatever alternative is chosen must be an improvement on the current set-up, she says. “I am determined that whatever the future council looks like in terms of size and geography, it has to have empowering our communities at its heart, alongside closer local control over key issues like the provision of education in our town, improving housing and ensuring we continue to protect and enhance much loved assets like our green spaces, leisure and cultural treasures like our much loved award-winning Hastings Museum and Art Gallery.”

The formation of a Hastings town council is one idea the council is considering. This would not however be a replacement for the borough council - while the services currently provided by the borough council would be transferred to the new unitary authority, a town council would only decide on minor matters, such as providing allotments, public clocks, bus shelters, community centres, play areas, making grants to local organisations and issuing fixed penalty fines for offences like littering and graffiti. It would however have tax-raising powers and there would be elections to choose town councillors.

Three proposals

Three proposals for the new unitary authority are under discussion in HBC. The Green councillors who run the council and the Conservative group are backing a proposal for a single East Sussex unitary authority, on the grounds that this is the only option that meets government criteria and it is the government which will make the final decision. This is also the position taken by the county council.

Meanwhile Labour favours dividing the county into a coastal area -  arguing that the towns on the coast tend to share the same characteristics - and an inland rural area. The Hastings Independents meanwhile want ESCC to be abolished and each existing local council to become a unitary authority, taking on the services currently provided by the county council such as social care and roads in addition to those they provide now; they envisage that the councils could achieve savings by cooperating to provide shared services.

Some of the pros and cons of each proposal are listed on the HBC website page dedicated to the reorganisation.

East Sussex has a population of 550,000 which fits well with the 500,000 or more size which the government criteria give as appropriate for a unitary authority. The alternative options under discussion in HBC would both involve unitary authorities with much smaller populations. Jim McMahon, the minister of state for Local Government and English Devolution, has suggested that options involving populations down to 350,000 could be acceptable if presenting other advantages and enjoying wide public support.

ESCC survey

In the invitation to its online consultation ESCC sets out some of the aims it says a new authority should achieve:

• improving outcomes for residents and communities
• making best use of resources now and for the future
• enhancing local democracy, local identity, transparency, accessibility, local decision-making and accountability
• supporting and driving decision-making and public service reform at both Sussex and local level
• providing a stronger and unified voice to help attract investment and tackle priorities.

The deadline for submitting views to the ESCC consultation is 23 June and for HBC 30 June. The deadline for the councils to submit a final reorganisation proposal to the government is 26 September, by which time all East Sussex councils are supposed to have reached agreement.

 

Read about the options under discussion in HBC and respond to the survey here.

Read about the ESCC proposal and respond to their survey here.

ESCC video on local government reorganisation and how it fits into the devolution process:

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