The Labour Government is taking a wrecking ball to our local councils in West Sussex by forcing the abolition of both Crawley Borough Council and West Sussex County Council.  The government have stated there will be no new funding to cover the huge set-up costs that will be incurred by creating either one or two new councils covering West Sussex.  It will be paid for entirely by you, the hard-pressed council tax payer.

Additionally, Labour have announced a policy they call ‘fairer funding’, which is redistributing funding from local authorities in southern England, (like ours) to Labour heartlands up north.  Within two years, it’s expected to hit West Sussex County Council with funding reductions of about £30 million every year.

Labour’s argument is southern England is wealthier and therefore has more potential to raise funds locally, which translates to they expect you, the local council tax payer here, to pay more.  This is at a time when costs and demand for council services are rising sharply, especially for adult social care.

The government will decide what our future council arrangements will be.  Last week, both West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council held Full Council meetings to express their preference to the government, with the options being one or two councils to cover West Sussex.  The multi-council created business case shows that having one new council will save £30 million a year more than having two, as well as avoiding the huge disruption and cost of splitting up the County Council, that provides 80% of our services.   

The payback period (when savings kick in after the upfront costs) is within three years for one council, but seven years for two councils.  Added to huge disruption and big cuts to services, having two new councils means much higher council tax.  Crawley’s Labour Councillors voted to have two, to maximise their political influence in our new council, while we Conservatives voted for one, in order to reduce huge cuts to services and massive council tax hikes.  Both will come if we have two councils instead of one to cover West Sussex.         

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

1st October 2025