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Shaping the future of local government in East Sussex

Right now, in East Sussex, there are different councils that run and look after where you live. They each take care of different things. East Sussex County Council covers the whole of East Sussex and looks after things like roads, education and social care for children and adults. Then there are five smaller councils, the District and Borough Councils (Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council, Rother District Council and Wealden District Council), that do things like collect bins, help people find homes, and give permission to build new things. In some towns and villages, there are also smaller town and parish councils that look after very local things like parks and graveyards.

This way of working has been around for 50 years. But now, the government thinks it’s time for a change. They want to bring these services together, so that there are fewer councils or one new council that takes care of everything, instead of having lots of separate ones. Except for the much smaller town and parish Councils, that will stay the same. This process is called Local Government Reorganisation and is planned to happen by 2028.

The government has a few rules and expectations about what the new council(s) should be like and wants the change to make things simpler, cost less money and help councils to deliver services better. More information on the government’s expectations for councils in East Sussex can be found here.

But in particular the government has said that any new council(s) should:

  1. Population: Serve a population of around 500,000. East Sussex currently has a population of 550,000.
  2. Better Outcomes: Aim to make things better for residents and communities. This includes making the best use of resources now and in the future.
  3. Community led: Led by members in collaboration with public sector partners, businesses, and the voluntary sector.
  4. Local decision making: Enhance local democracy and identity. Residents should feel more involved in, and decision making should be open, honest and transparent.
  5. OneVoice: Provide a stronger and unified voice to attract investment, tackle priorities and focus on what matters most.
  6. Funding: The government should fund the changes as existing councils do not have the money or resources to do this on their own.

The current councils in East Sussex sent an initial plan to the government in April to explain how this process might work in East Sussex. You can view this plan on our interim plan page. This plan was to have one big council for the whole of East Sussex. A letter from government providing feedback on this interim plan was issued on 7 May 2025.

Following feedback from government, East Sussex listened to the views of local people, residents, stakeholders, and partners in a consultation exercise, to ensure the proposals had local support. The results of the consultation exercise can be found here.

The consultation exercise informed the development of the final proposal to government, which was submitted on 26 September 2025. It is expected that further government consultation on these proposals will start shortly.