Closed: Consultation on boundary of Lewes district from April 2028 onwards

Latest update: Lewes District Boundary Consultation Report - September 2025 (PDF, 445 KB)

Local Government Reorganisation (a central government policy) will see new unitary councils established across East and West Sussex, including Brighton & Hove. A unitary council provides all the public services that are currently split between district/borough councils and the county council.

East Sussex is responding to the government policy in September 2025 with a desire to create one single unitary council, covering the existing East Sussex footprint.

Brighton & Hove City Council announced that as part of local government reorganisation it was looking to potentially grow the city boundaries and is looking at options to expand into parts of Lewes district, specifically Kingston ward, East Saltdean, Telscombe, Peacehaven and Newhaven.

We launched a public consultation to understand how our residents feel about these proposals. This is in addition to the previous county-wide consultation to seek views on the changes that will happen because of the reorganisation process.

For those of you that contributed to that survey - thank you. We appreciate an additional survey is a bigger ask on your time and thank you in advance for contributing.

Views of our residents are what matter most. By answering the following survey, you can have your say.

Your feedback will be fed into the East Sussex proposal, which will be considered by government when they decide the size and boundaries of the new unitary councils.

Here's why we believe our plan for one big council for the whole of East Sussex makes most sense

• Larger authorities are more financially resilient than smaller ones. They are better equipped to handle both planned and unexpected costs, particularly in areas such as adult social care and children's services.
• With UK local authorities facing a projected funding gap of £8.4 billion by 2028/29, savings are vital. Bringing services together as part of one larger authority helps reduce duplication, streamlines management, and delivers the savings needed.
• A single authority can more effectively coordinate across departments like housing, transport, education, and health. Breaking up of services increases costs, lines of communication become blurred and specialist expertise could be lost.
• Larger councils have greater capacity to deliver long-term infrastructure projects, manage housing development, and tackle challenges such as climate change and economic growth.
• Current government guidance recommends unitary authorities serve populations exceeding 500,000 people. East Sussex, with approximately 550,000 residents, meets the criteria.
• The push for a single unitary authority in East Sussex is also driven by the belief that it offers improved services, stronger finances, and more strategic leadership.  By being smaller and breaking up services, these benefits could be lost.

What's next?

Following the consultation analysis, a business case will be submitted to the government in September 2025 supporting one unitary council covering all of East Sussex.

The business case is available to download - see item 8b

We will keep residents updated throughout the process. And thank you for taking part in the consultation - your views matter.