Election postponement concerns in West Sussex

Thursday, 23 January 2025 11:58

By Karen Dunn, Local Democracy Reporter @V2RadioSussex

Council leaders in West Sussex have raised concerns about county elections being ‘deferred’.

Earlier this month, the county council said that it would write to government confirming its support for devolution and local government reorganisation, in the hope that it will be included in the priority programme.

And leader Paul Marshall agreed to invite the government to postpone May’s elections for one year while things were worked out.

But the news did not sit well with the county’s district and borough council leaders – especially as there is no guarantee that Sussex will make the priority programme, meaning things would take longer than one year.

Martin Boffey, leader of Horsham District Council, said the elections were being cancelled, not deferred.
And he warned that doing so would see some county councillors staying in their roles for up to seven years, making key decisions, without having to face elections.

Mr Boffey said: “As leader of Horsham District Council, the authority charged with conducting all elections within the district, the disruption and uncertainty caused by proposals to cancel the elections so late in the day is frustrating. “This council has already spent money in preparing for these election which, whoever pays for this loss, is council tax payers’ money that cannot be recovered.”

Adrian Moss, leader of Chichester District Council, shared similar concerns in a letter to the Minister of State for Local Government & English Devolution.

In the joint letter with Timothy Johnson, leader of the opposition, Mr Moss said he was ‘fully supportive of genuine devolution of powers and finance from Whitehall to local government’.

But he raised concerns about a ‘lack of consultation’ with the district and borough councils and residents.
The letter stated: “Any major reform of local government in Sussex, we feel, should follow a period of proper consultation with residents, businesses, elected representatives at all levels, and other stakeholders.”

Martin Lury, leader of Arun District Council, said the elections should ‘proceed unfettered’ in May.
He added: “People elect councillors for a set term, so extending this by one to maybe three years completely disenfranchises the electorate.”
The aim of devolution is to bring funding and local decision-making powers down from central government to deliver on economic growth, jobs and skills, housing and transport.

A White Paper published in December proposed the setting up of mayoral controlled authorities covering at least 1.5 million people – locally that would be the whole of Sussex, including Brighton and Hove.

On top of that, unitary authorities would replace district and borough councils, each representing at least 500,000 people.

Election postponement concerns in West Sussex

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