It is expected the government will announce this week which areas will see the imposition of directly elected mayors for 2026 as opposed to having them in 2028, for those areas that don’t already have them. 

Previously, many parts of the country have gone down this route voluntarily.  Known as devolution, it is devolving some powers down from central government, although mentioned less is that there will also be some powers and responsibilities ‘devolving’ upwards to new mayors, away from the local authorities where they sit now. 

Nevertheless, I welcome having consistency across England and the opportunities a combined mayoral authority can create.  Those areas already with directly elected mayors have more access to government funding and business investment, than those areas without.  Not to be confused with civic town mayors whose role is attending events like summer fetes, directly elected mayors take decisions at a strategic level on matters such as economic development, transport and new housing delivery. 

The three upper-tier local authorities of West Sussex County Council, East Sussex County Council, and Brighton and Hove City Council were given only one choice by the government, which was whether they preferred to have a mayoral authority starting in 2026 or 2028.  They were right to express a preference for 2026 and to request that Sussex becomes the area that a new mayor should cover.  The government requirement is mayors should cover a minimum population of 1.5 million, so with 1.8 million people and the historic links we all have, Sussex as a whole feels the best possible area to match.  There will be a public consultation in the spring and I look forward to seeing proposals progress. 

Devolution was in Labour’s election manifesto, but the forcing of local authorities in two-tier areas to merge, was not.  This is known as unitarisation and the government are imposing this on Crawley and Sussex at the same time as devolution.  There appears to be no flexibility on the three-year timetable, so my view is we need to make the best of it, while staying focussed on delivering the best possible local services.  

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

5th February 2025