Summary
A three-unitary authority model for Surrey will optimise a financially sustainable and efficient structure of local government, with each new council tailored to its distinct human and economic geography. It prioritises genuine resident engagement and strong local leadership. By ensuring that unitary boundaries align with coherent economic geographies, it maximises economic growth. By recognising our local communities, it enables improved services, outcomes and value for money.
Our proposal for local government reorganisation in Surrey is for three new unitary authorities to replace the 11 district and borough councils and Surrey County Council. We have drawn this conclusion from detailed analysis and engagement with stakeholders.
Our work clearly shows that three unitary authorities:
- aligns the new local authority boundaries with Surrey’s distinct economic geographies, facilitating strategic planning and investment. Three unitary authorities maximises economic growth, housing development and infrastructure improvements, with each authority able so support local and regional prosperity;
- are best placed to take advantage of new powers and responsibilities from devolution. The three-unitary model will enable strong local leadership and strategic coordination, with a good balance of unitary authorities represented at the future Mayoral Strategic Authority;
- reflects Surrey’s diverse local identities and economic clusters. Three unitary authorities maintains strong local connections and accountability, creating a system of local government that is responsive to the unique needs and characteristics of each area;
- prioritises genuine and meaningful resident engagement and empowerment, ensuring that local communities have a strong voice in decision making;
- are efficient, resilient and able to withstand financial shocks. Although the three-unitary model falls just short of meeting the government’s suggested 500,000 population threshold due to the size of Surrey’s three distinct communities, it achieves substantial savings through reducing duplication and maximises economies of scale. However, local authority debt is a significant issue in Surrey.
- by bringing lower- and upper-tier services together, three unitary authorities enables more holistic, locally tailored and needs-based service delivery. This will improve outcomes by providing high-quality, innovative and sustainable public services that respond to local need and support the government’s agenda for wider public service reform.
Our evidence and conclusions for each of our principles is set out in the sub-sections that follow.
We always look for ways to improve our website. Share your feedback on how we can improve the information or structure of this web page.
To get in touch about a service we provide, use our contact us form
Did you find this page useful?