{"id":5234,"date":"2025-10-31T16:51:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/?p=5234"},"modified":"2025-10-31T16:51:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:51:37","slug":"local-government-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/local-government-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Government Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"423\" data-attachment-id=\"5235\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/local-government-reform\/local-government-reorganisation-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?fit=1379%2C910&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1379,910\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Local Government Reorganisation 3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?fit=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?fit=640%2C423&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?resize=640%2C423&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C676&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?resize=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?resize=768%2C507&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?w=1379&amp;ssl=1 1379w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Local-Government-Reorganisation-3.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Government has confirmed plans to abolish Surrey\u2019s two-tier system of local government and replace it with two single-tier unitary councils \u2014 East Surrey and West Surrey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the plan,&nbsp;<strong>Epsom &amp; Ewell<\/strong>&nbsp;will join Elmbridge, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge to form the new East Surrey Unitary Authority. The remainder of the county \u2014 Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking \u2014 will form West Surrey. Each authority will be responsible for everything from waste and planning to adult social care, highways and schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elections for the new shadow councils are expected in<strong>&nbsp;May 2026<\/strong>, with the new authorities assuming full powers from 1 April 2027, once the required Structural Changes Order has been approved by Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Woodcote and Langley Vale ward it means that we will be joined by College ward and the southern half of Town ward in forming a new electoral division for the East Surrey Unitary Council. This is the same as the existing Town &amp; Downs electoral division for Surrey County Council represented by Cllr Steve McCormick. It is expected that our&nbsp; new Unitary Council division will need to elect 2 councillors to represent us at the May 2026 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are interested in possibly standing as a Residents Association candidate or wish to find out more we\u2019d love to hear from you. You can e-mail us at <a href=\"mailto:info@woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\">info@woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org<\/a> or phone John Mumford on 07989086516.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Surrey is changing &#8211; local government reform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.woodcoteepsomresidentssociety.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/local-government-reform\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-update"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - 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