Voters and taxpayers quizzed government officials about the plan to have an elected mayor for Sussex at and event in Brighton last night (Monday 31 March).
They asked about the level of public support required to legitimise the proposed changes, how a mayor would be funded and how people could tell whether they proposed mayor was a success.
Tim Bowden, who led the meeting for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, fielded most of the questions at the event at the Holiday Inn, in Brighton.
The consultation – on creating a “mayoral combined county authority” led by a directly elected mayor – is due to end at 11.59pm on Sunday 13 April. To find out more, click here. To take part, click here.
The proposed elected mayor would have devolved powers over
• transport and local infrastructure
• skills and employment support
• housing and strategic planning
• economic development and regeneration
• environment and climate change
• health, wellbeing and public service reform
• public safety
The proposed mayor would be elected every four years and would be supported by the mayoral combined county authority, made up of six members.
Those six members would be serving councillors nominated by the proposed new unitary councils. This could mean, for example, two each from East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
The office of the Sussex police and crime commissioner would be absorbed by the new mayoral combined county authority, with the role going to a deputy mayor chosen from the six members.
One of the questions came from Mark Bullen, a member of the Adur and Worthing Chamber of Commerce executive committee.
Mr Bullen, who is also the managing director of GB Electronics (UK), asked about the number or percentage of responses needed to move forward.
He said: “If only one person responds, then the government can say no one wants this. Is there a number where they can think, ok, are people interested?”
Mr Bowden, who led the meeting for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said that the consultation was not a referendum.
He said: “If you look across other consultations that have been locally run in other areas that have done this, it can be anywhere between 800 to 900 to 5,000 responses.
“It’s all about the evidence that comes in. That’s what we make our decisions on – based on our criteria.”
Brighton and Hove resident Sue Gorman said that she agreed with the idea in principle but asked about costs and funding for the new mayor.
She said: “There’s a person to pay. There’s extra expense for the people going to the meetings. There’s all the support for that body of people which is extra to what we’re paying.
“It comes through my tax. It’s coming out of my pocket one way or another. Unless there’s a massive influx of money, I can’t understand the benefit.”
Mr Bowden said that council tax would not be used to fund the proposed mayor. Instead, the government would provide grants, with a commitment to creating a 30-year investment fund for every mayoral authority.
Victoria Ramsden, the founder of Hove business Integrity Executive Coaching, asked about the success criteria for the proposed new mayoral authority at both a national and local level.
She said: “I don’t think anyone would disagree with the bullet points or the sense of what we’re trying to achieve but what is going to be different as a result of doing this?
“How will we know we’re on the way to achieving those things?”
Mr Bowden said that the mayoral authority would give accountability with a single person for the area and they would set their own criteria.
He said that not every devolved authority currently had access to all the funding streams.
The first election to vote in a Sussex mayor is expected to take place in May next year, with new councils – known as unitary councils – holding their first elections in May 2027.
In the meantime, the county council elections that were due to take place this year – in East Sussex and West Sussex – have been postponed. The members of Brighton and Hove City Council is not up for re-election until May 2027.
Brighton and Hove City Council wants to keep its status as a single unitary authority within its current boundaries. It has proposed having five unitary councils across Sussex. These would serve fewer people than suggested by the government.
In its proposal to ministers, Brighton and Hove City Council said that it could absorb neighbouring areas such as Shoreham to the west and Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven to the east.
East Sussex County Council and the constituent district councils have proposed a new single-tier council within the current East Sussex boundaries.
West Sussex County Council has sought more guidance. It could become one council along the current boundary lines or be split into two unitary authorities.
In addition, Crawley Borough Council has held talks with Reigate and Banstead Council about creating a new unitary council that includes Gatwick and is part of Surrey.
For more information and a link to complete the consultation online, click here.
I hope the residents of Shoreham-by-Sea, Southwick, East Saltdean, Telscombe Clffs and Peacehaven get a say in this as I strongly suspect that most would be loathe to be absorbed into BHCC, especially after having watched the current party-before-city flunkeys from the safety of another authority.