Devolution in Surrey

Surrey has been identified as one of the county council areas in England that will be reorganised as part of the devolution programme from the Government. This poses many interesting questions for the future of Surrey’s governance. Since 1974, Surrey has been divided up into 11 District and Borough Councils with the County Council sat above. Like other two tiered local government areas, this has led to its own set of head on disagreements over politics, areas of responsibility, funding, and many, many more. So, the idea of local government reform is not an unwelcome one – but it’s not a simple process.

Surrey is a big area with a population around 1.2 million and distinct identities within Surrey. It is not a metropolitan area and therefore the identity many residents have is not Surrey based but more local than that – people are from Guildford or Woking, or Reigate or Epsom. And there poses one of the key obstacles to reorganisation for Surrey – identity. Connection to a local area is essential for democracy, to feel connected to a place provides security and belonging, and I’ve always understood that to be an intrinsic part of local government. Electing local people to run a local council that you feel connected to.

We don’t know yet how Surrey is going to be re-organised but it is likely to be 2 or 3 new authorities replacing the existing 11 plus the County. It will be essential for each of these new authorities to establish a distinct sense of belonging, so there is buy in from their new residents. This will be difficult, especially because of the unpopular decisions that are needed to be taken to get local government finances onto a sustainable footing and making good the delivery of services people so desperately depend on.

Politically, Surrey has become more diverse. Historically, this County could be taken to the bank for how Conservative it was. Only until recently were almost all councils dominated by the Conservative party, now only the County Council and one District Council have a Conservative majority. Clashing political leadership is never easy to manage as well, and this could also pose problems for the Government in finding a united position across differing council leadership.

The recommendations from Councils are being presented this week, and it is expected that the Minister is going to make his decision later this month. So, we should know the intended destination sooner rather than later. But, what I envision as to be the next big issue is to find common ground between political parties and political leadership that have butted heads and now need to work together. A very interesting couple of months and years ahead.