The Government is proposing three major changes to local government in England.

Strategic Authorities

The first change is to introduce a new set of Strategic Authorities covering the whole of England. These would have competence over broader issues such as transport and local infrastructure, strategic planning, economic development and regeneration.  These authorities would have increased powers devolved from central government. 

The government’s assumption is that Strategic Authorities should have a combined population of 1.5 million or above, but they accept that in some places smaller authorities may be necessary. 

In Surrey's case its population of 1.2 million falls below this guideline. 

Elected mayors

Whilst the White Paper talks about areas that “choose” to have elected mayors, it is clear that areas which choose to have elected mayors will qualify for greater devolution of powers. 

Unitary authorities

The White Paper also calls for the replacement of the current two-tier structure with competence divided between District/Borough Councils and County Councils. Instead there would be larger Unitary authorities combining the powers of County and District.   

The expectation is that Unitary Authorities should cover a population of 500k or more, but exceptions will be permitted.

If it were to become a single Unitary authority, then Surrey would cover twice the population of the largest current Unitary authority. So it seems likely that at Surrey would be split into two Unitary authorities. 

“Hyper-local” issues

The White Paper also refers to empowering local communities to make hyper-local changes including ownership of treasured community assets. It refers to “rewiring the relationship between town and parish councils and principal Local Authorities, strengthening expectations on engagement and community voice.”

This poses a major challenge in Surrey because a wide swathe of Surrey does not have Town & Parish Councils. Major communities such as Guildford, Woking, Camberley, Staines, Chertsey, Epsom, Redhill, Reigate, Dorking & Leatherhead, which have historically been happy for their community assets to be run on their behalf by local Districts and Boroughs, will now have to decide whether to lose local control to a more remote Unitary Authority, to create new Town Councils or to hand assets over to volunteer organisations.