Consultation on Proposals for Local Government Reorganisation in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove and West Sussex

Overview

This statutory consultation seeks views on the proposals that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has received following the Secretary of State’s invitation to councils in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, and West Sussex to submit proposals for unitary local government for their areas. You can find full details of the consultation, including a privacy statement, at: Local government reorganisation in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, and West Sussex - GOV.UK

The 4 proposals in this consultation were made by the following councils on 26 September 2025:

Proposals from councils in the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Area

1. East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council and Rother District Council proposed 2 unitary councils across the whole of the area of East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, comprising the current areas of:

• A single unitary council covering Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden
• Brighton and Hove to remain unchanged

You can find the proposal at: The Proposal – East Sussex Councils.

2. Brighton and Hove City Council proposed 5 unitary councils across the whole of the area of East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton and Hove. This proposal includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of: 

• Unitary A - Brighton and Hove plus 4 wards and 1 parish from Lewes
• Unitary B - Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother plus 5 wards from Lewes and 9 wards from Wealden
• Unitary C - Mid-Sussex plus 34 wards from Wealden and 10 wards from Lewes
• Unitary D - Chichester, Crawley, Horsham
• Unitary E - Adur, Arun, and Worthing

You can find the proposal at: Representative Councils for a Devolved Sussex: A Five Unitary Proposal.

Proposals from councils in the West Sussex Area

3. West Sussex County Council have proposed one unitary council across the whole of the area of West Sussex. This would comprise the current district areas of:

• Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid-Sussex and Worthing

You can find the proposal at: Shaping West Sussex | SnapSea.

Please note that this is referred to as Option A in their business case.

4. Adur District Council, Arun District Council, Chichester District Council, Crawley Borough Council, Horsham District Council, Mid-Sussex District Council and Worthing Borough Councils have proposed 2 unitary councils across the whole of the area of West Sussex. These would comprise the current district areas of:  

• Unitary A – Adur, Arun, Chichester and Worthing
• Unitary B – Crawley, Horsham, and Mid Sussex

You can find the proposal at: Shaping West Sussex | SnapSea.

Please note that this is referred to as Option B2 in their business case.

Wealden District Council did not submit a proposal

This consultation asks questions about each proposal to help inform the assessment of the proposals.