Local Government Reorganisation - Have Your Say

This statutory consultation seeks views on the proposals that the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has received following the Secretary of State’s invitation to councils in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove and West Sussex to submit proposals for unitary local government for their areas. The 4 proposals in this consultation were made by the following councils on 26 September 2025.

East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council and Rother District Council proposed 2 unitary councils across the whole of the area of East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, comprising the current areas of:

• a single unitary council covering Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden 
• Brighton and Hove to remain unchanged  

Brighton and Hove City Council proposed 5 unitary councils across the whole of the area of East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove. This proposal includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of:? 

• Unitary A: Brighton and Hove plus 4 wards and 1 parish from Lewes  

• Unitary B: Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother plus 5 wards from Lewes and 9 wards from Wealden  

• Unitary C: Mid-Sussex plus 34 wards from Wealden and 10 wards from Lewes  

• Unitary D: Chichester, Crawley, Horsham  

• Unitary E: Adur, Arun, and Worthing  

West Sussex County Council have proposed one unitary council across the whole of the area of West Sussex. This would comprise the current district areas of: 

• Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid-Sussex and Worthing.  

Adur District Council, Arun District Council, Chichester District Council, Crawley Borough Council, Horsham District Council, Mid-Sussex District Council and Worthing Borough Councils have proposed 2 unitary councils across the whole of the area of West Sussex. These would comprise the current district areas of:   

• Unitary A –Adur, Arun, Chichester and Worthing  

• Unitary B –Crawley, Horsham, and Mid Sussex. 

Wealden District Council did not submit a proposal.

This consultation asks questions about each proposal to help inform the assessment of the proposals.

Scope of this consultation

This consultation is about the structure of local government in the East Sussex, Brighton and Hove, and West Sussex areas.                                                                              

Duration

This consultation will last for 7 weeks from 19 November 2025 to 11 January 2026. 

Enquiries 

For any enquiries about the consultation please contact: LGRconsultationresponse@communities.gov.uk 

How to respond

You may respond by completing the online survey.

If you are responding in writing, please make it clear which proposal you are responding to.  You can email your response to the questions in this consultation to LGRconsultationresponse@communities.gov.uk 

Alternatively written responses should be sent to: 

When replying please include your name and indicate whether your home or organisation address is located in: 

• East Sussex  

• Brighton and Hove 

• West Sussex 

• Not in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove, or West Sussex