Following the government's White Paper in December, a bid was submitted for Sussex as a Combined Authority, that comprised West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove which all three Leaders and Chief Execs discussed.
Conservative Leader of WSCC spoke to members of Full Council on 14th February and took questions.
Cllr Paul Marshall said that it's clear that Devolution is about devolved powers and strengthening local powers. The Mayoral model comes with not just powers but devolved funding. The two Conservative and one Labour administration put politics aside as all are committed to seeing how we can strengthen the delivery of services in our local base and it was on this basis that all three authorities chose to submit a bid which was accepted.
The current position is that we are in the process of discussing what the Combined Authority will look like through our CEOs and with MHCLG. It is agreed that this is a good opportunity for Sussex in that when we talk about devolved powers, we talk about devolved infrastructure, skills, alignment with health, fire and rescue and our police authorities and also strategic planning.
With respect to strategic planning, West Sussex is expected to deliver anything up to 7,500 homes a year and the challenge is around how we deliver infrastructure to coordinate those housing programmes . At the moment, planning authorities do not have to consider infrastructure when delivering their five-year housing supply, but a strategic model will have to consider how they deliver infrastructure, health, schools, roads, public transport. We can therefore have a strategic model that aligns with delivering better outcomes.
With respect to local government reform: Our draft submission has to be given to government by 21st March 2025 with respect to what the proposed unitary models will look like in Sussex, as a very high level indicative submission. MHCLG and like the Treasury will review and come back with either their affirmation or alternatives which will then need to be worked up to a much fuller business case that will be presented by 26th September 2025.
There are already various discussions going on right across Sussex with respect to alternatives to delivery models which no doubt will be submitted. Important to note that the West Sussex Leader has set up a whole number of meetings with Districts and Boroughs Leaders to discuss what we feel the unitary model should look like in West Sussex and right across Sussex, whether that be one or two unitaries or three bearing in mind Brighton as a City Council, although there are supposed to be ground rules around the numbers.
The primary aim of government however is to look for sensible geographies that do not create islands and most importantly of all that the proposed model will have a sufficiently sized tax base to be able to sustain itself.
A message from the Conservative Leader of ESCC Keith Glazier
"The government wants 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.
"As leader of East Sussex County Council, I support this opportunity. I believe it will give you (and our neighbours) a bigger say on decisions which are made at the moment in Westminster. As well as money to fund them.
"Local councils in East Sussex will continue to provide almost all of your day-to-day services and will work closely with a mayor and combined authority on the largest issues which affect all of Sussex.
"This opportunity will bring some other changes. One is that the government has decided to postpone county council elections due in May in places where devolution is planned, including in East and West Sussex.
"This will allow work to prepare for the election of a Sussex mayor in 2026 and avoids spending more than £1.5 million of public money this year.
"In future the government also plans for you to be served by just one council (known as ‘unitary government’) rather than the present two-tier system of East Sussex County Council and a borough or district council (Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother or Wealden).
"Discussions about how to arrange this are continuing and we will keep you updated.
"Right now, this does not mean any changes to your services. I can assure you that we’re working harder than ever to try and meet your needs, even in this toughest of financial times."
The government has begun a public consultation on its plans for devolution and you can give your views from now until 13 April.
CLICK HERE to give your views on devolution
