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What is Local Government Reorganisation?
You might have heard people talking about devolution and local government reorganisation. What do each of these things mean for you as a resident in Hastings? They are both part of the government’s plans that were set out in a White Paper in December.
Local Government Reorganisation
Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council are currently part of a two-tier council structure responsible for delivering services but have different political and management structures.
The government wants two-tier councils to be replaced by one unitary council to provide for “simpler, more sustainable, local government structures” as outlined by Jim McMahon, then Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, in his letter to the councils in East Sussex.
Latest update - January 2025
The government's consultation has now closed and we are waiting for their decision on the future shape of councils across Sussex and Brighton. We continue to work with East Sussex County Council and the other districts and boroughs and council services continue to operate as normal.
Latest update - December 2025
The government is consulting on two options for local government reorganisation across Sussex and Brighton.
Find out more and have your say by 11 January 2026.
Latest update - Friday 26 September 2025
The council’s Cabinet endorsed the one East Sussex unitary model on Wednesday 24 September, but business cases and proposals for a coastal unitary model and the district and borough federated model were all sent to the government as part of their plans to reorganise local councils across Sussex and Brighton into one tier.
The business cases and proposals for each of the three options are available to download below:
HBC Leader Letter to SOS and Minister
One East Sussex:
Annex 2 - Demographic Insights maps
Annex 4 - letter from Telscombe PC
Annex 5 - letter from Kingston PC
Annex 6 - letter from Rodmell PC
Annex 7 - letter from Peacehaven PC
Annex 8 - letter from Newhaven PC
Annex 9 - letter from Iford PC
Annex 11 - East Sussex - LGR public focus group
Annex 12 - East Sussex - LGR User Voice groups
Coastal unitary:
Proposal for a Coastal Unitary
District and borough federated model:
LGR district and borough model presentation
There are also some frequently asked questions on Local Government Reorganisation.
Councillors discussed the business case for each option at Overview and Scrutiny on Thursday 18 September, and at Full Council on Wednesday 24 September. The final submission was agreed at a special Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 24 September and the final submission was sent to government on Friday 26 September.
Following our submission to government, we are expecting further government consultation about the proposals over the winter before we hear a final decision from government in spring 2026 on how things will look in the future. The other councils in East Sussex also sent responses to the government, you can find out more on their websites.
While we wait to hear back from the government, council services will continue to operate the same way as they do currently.
What has already happened?
Councils were asked to give the government initial thoughts and plans on how a unitary council could work by Friday 21 March. This is separate to the discussions about Strategic Mayoral Authorities.
You can read the Interim Plan that was submitted to the government on behalf of all five districts and boroughs and East Sussex County Council, and the accompanying letter that Cllr Julia Hilton sent setting out Hastings' thoughts on the proposals.
We then carried out our own survey and engagement with residents and other stakeholders over the summer about our three proposed options. You can read a summary of the feedback we received to the Hastings-specific survey. This information has been used to help draft our submission to government.
Cllr Julia Hilton, deputy leader of Hastings Borough Council and lead councillor for local government reorganisation, said: “We know people may have concerns about this, but we are working with all parties to ensure that whatever the outcome councillors will be working for the best deal for the residents and businesses of Hastings. We will also be making sure that Hastings will not have any reduction in current service levels and actively seek for improvements and greater funding opportunities to deliver better services particularly around the areas the borough council has no direct influence on such as highways, social care and education.”
If you have any questions, please email consultation@hastings.gov.uk.
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What is Local Government Reorganisation?