Surrey councils to be reorganised
On 5 February, the government confirmed Surrey is among the first areas for local government reorganisation. The current two tier system, where services are split between Surrey County Council and district and borough councils like Tandridge, will be replaced with unitary councils, which handle all local services.
We will work with other Surrey councils to submit a proposal for the creation of these new unitary councils.
What happens next?
We are preparing an interim proposal to be submitted to the government by 21 March, followed by a full proposal submitted by 9 May.
The government will respond to the plan in the autumn.
If the government approves the plan, it is expected that elections to new shadow unitary councils will take place in May 2026, followed by the official 'vesting day' in May 2027, where the unitary councils will be official and existing councils will dissolve.
Special meeting
You can find out more about the interim proposal at a special meeting on Tuesday 18 March at 7.30pm which will be broadcast live.
Single unitary is ruled out
Surrey's county and district and borough council leaders have agreed not to propose a single unitary council for the entire county. Instead, they are considering two or three smaller unitary councils. The leaders are committed to working together towards submitting one joint proposal for Surrey.
Potential three or two unitary councils
Below are maps showing some options for what three or two unitary councils could look like.