Reed approves Surrey county council split and £500m write-off

Bankrupt Woking to get an unprecedented debt write-off from government, but new West Surrey Council to be burdened with £4.5bn of borrowing from Day 1 in 2027

Twelve local authorities in Surrey, including Tandridge, Epsom and Ewell and Reigate and Banstead district councils, are to be scrapped and two new, unitary county councils created, probably as early as April 2027, in Whitehall plans to reform local government.

The plans to create East Surrey Council and West Surrey Council have been signed off by Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North if he can be bothered), as the Secretary of State for local government.

The plans include an exceptional £500million debt write-off for basketcase council Woking. But Croydon’s number-crunchers, and Jason Perry, need not get their hopes up of a similar debt write-off for the south London borough, as the Woking move has been made in order not to see all its debts carried over to the new West Surrey authority.

Croydon’s neighbouring and nearby authorities on the other side of the Greater London boundary – Tandridge, Epsom and Ewell and Reigate and Banstead – will be absorbed into the new East Surrey Council, together with district councils for Mole Valley and Elmbridge, as Surrey County Council and six other borough and district councils are also dissolved and merged into the two large authorities.

Across the existing Surrey County Council and 11 district and borough councils there are accumulated debts of around £5billion. The majority of that – £4.5billion – sits with councils in what is to become West Surrey. Woking has debts of £2.1billion, while Spelthorne owes £1billion.

The area’s three Liberal Democrat MPs have already expressed “grave concerns” that West Surrey will be bankrupt from Day 1 of its existence.

The omens are not great. In 2020, Northamptonshire, the first council in England to issue a Section 114 notice this century, was dissolved and split into two new authorities, West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council. Both authorities have struggled financially since. Both councils have, since May this year, been under control of Reform UK.

Undeterred by such a precedent, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has decided to press on with its planned changes for Surrey.

“Putting Surrey’s local authorities on a more sustainable footing is vital to safeguarding the services its residents rely on, as well as investing in their futures,” Reed said yesterday.

Reed, flushed with his Build Baby Build sloganising, said streamlining to a unitary council system will see “quicker decisions to speed up house building and get vital infrastructure projects moving, while attracting new investment”.

Tim Oliver, the Conservative leader of Surrey County Council, said: “Reorganisation and devolution are huge opportunities, and this is good news for Surrey residents and businesses.”

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