The Government has announced that devolution will bring huge opportunities, money and growth to our region – boosting people’s quality of life for generations to come, and it has confirmed that Sussex and Brighton are on the fast-track to benefit.

It has now launched a devolution consultation to create a new Strategic Combined Authority and a mayor for the wider region of West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton. This runs for eight weeks, until 11:59pm on 13 April 2025 and can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/sussex-and-brighton-devolution

With the changes set to bring huge investment and extra powers from Government to Sussex and Brighton, we’re encouraging anyone who lives and works in the region to give their views – so please make sure that you have your say. As a district council, we will look at the detail of the proposals and provide feedback to the Government.

The Government has also published more details on its plans and next steps for Local Government Reorganisation. Local Government Reorganisation is separate to devolution, but it links with the government’s overall aims. The government wants all areas to have unitary councils across the country, with each serving a minimum of 500,000 residents. For the Sussex area, this is likely to mean the creation of three new unitary councils. This would mean all of the existing councils merging into the new unitary councils. All West Sussex councils have been asked to submit preliminary proposals by 21 March 2025. The March proposal is only an interim point, with final proposals required by the Government in September. The changes themselves may not be fully in place until 2028.

The proposed timeline for devolution for the creation of the combined authority and elected mayor is for 2026 and for the unitary authorities to be ready in shadow form in 2027.

We want to reassure you that regardless of what happens, our services will still be provided to you, and we will make the transition as smooth as we possibly can. There are still lots of unknowns in terms of the detail. However, we will ensure that you are kept up to date with the latest information as we move forward. We have also provided Q&As on our web pages on devolution and local government reorganisation that you may find useful, which can be found here: www.chichester.gov.uk/devolution

Best Wishes

Diane Shepherd, Chief Executive of Chichester District Council and Adrian Moss, Leader of Chichester District Council