Wealden pauses support for single East Sussex unitary authority

The leaders of a district council have withdrawn their commitment to supporting plans to run East Sussex as a single new authority from 2028.

Wealden District Council (WDC) has said the One East Sussex Model released last week shows one large unitary authority would “plummet into debt from day one” and be “so vast” that local services, particularly in rural areas “are bound to suffer.”

The report, commissioned by all six current councils in East Sussex, said having just one council would save £20m over the first five years, but the projected opening debt would be £49m.

Meanwhile, Hastings Borough Council is also looking at two alternative models which would split the county between two, or even five, authorities.

Councillor James Partridge, Liberal Democrat leader of WDC under the Alliance for Wealden cross-party group, said: “The point of reorganising local government would surely be to make savings and improve service delivery for our residents.

“We have yet to find a proposal which does either of those things and find ourselves struggling to support a business case that would see the new local authority plummet into debt from day one, whilst also being so vast that local services for our residents, especially those in rural areas, are bound to suffer.”

Green deputy leader of WDC, Rachel Millward, said WDC wanted to “focus on the right geographies for the best services” and to “secure proper solutions for essentials like social care and housing”.

WDC said while almost half of residents who responded to a consultation said they thought a single authority could provide cost savings, almost half of respondents were concerned about losing local representation.

Councillors will debate and decide its position in three separate council meetings next week.

Meanwhile, Hastings Borough Council said while was it minded to support the One East Sussex plan, it would consider two alternative options to “reflecting consultation feedback and the particular needs of Hastings”.

The authority will look at a proposal from the Hastings Labour Group for a coastal authority comprising Hastings, Rother, Eastbourne and parts of Lewes and Wealden.

Another proposal put forward by the Hastings Independent Group would abolish the county council but retain all five district and borough councils in a federated co-working model.