Plans have been published that indicate Epsom & Ewell Borough Council will cease to exist by April 2027. The plan is to divide Surrey into two or three unitary authorities, so there will not be any borough councils in Surrey.
The map below shows the boundaries decided for two unitary authorities in Surrey, East Surrey and West Surrey. There will also be a Strategic Authority for the whole of Surrey, with an elected Mayor.
The two proposals in this consultation were made by groups of councils on 9th May 2025.
Elmbridge Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council and Surrey County Council proposed 2 unitary councils:
- East Surrey (Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Tandridge)
- West Surrey (Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley, Woking)
The Borough Councils of Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking, and Tandridge District Council proposed 3 unitary councils:
- East Surrey (Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge)
- North Surrey (Elmbridge, Runnymede, and Spelthorne)
- West Surrey (Guildford, Surrey Heath, Waverley, and Woking)
This consultation asks a number of questions about each proposal to help inform the assessment of the proposals.
Surrey reorganisation decision delayed
A final decision on the new unitary structures for Surrey has been delayed, council chiefs have been told. Plans for the future shape of local government in the county were due to be revealed on week commencing 13th October, but will now be delayed until the end of October – or possibly later.
Where do we stand on local government reorganisation in Epsom and Ewell and the County?
The future shape of local government in Surrey is moving into its final stage, with national and local plans converging on the abolition of all borough, district and county councils in April 2027 and their replacement by new, directly elected unitary authorities. Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) has already taken steps to ensure residents’ voices are not lost in the process, while Surrey County Council (SCC) continues to pilot new neighbourhood structures that could form part of the post-reorganisation landscape.
Financial pressures driving reform
A new report from the UNISON trade union warns that councils across the UK are facing a combined funding gap of £4.1 billion in 2026/27. Demand for adult and children’s social care, inflation, energy costs and homelessness are all identified as key pressures. UNISON’s General Secretary Christina McAnea said local authorities “are still billions short of the money they need to provide essential services” and that cuts “often hit the vulnerable hardest”. The figures provide the wider context for the government’s push towards larger, self-financing unitary councils and new devolved mayoral regions.
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s position
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council voted in May 2025 to support a “three unitaries” model for Surrey, submitting its preferred plan to government. Under that proposal, Epsom and Ewell would join an East Surrey unitary alongside Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge. Surrey County Council has argued instead for two unitaries – East and West – while others have urged a single Surrey authority. The final decision now rests with ministers.
EEBC has meanwhile carried out a Community Governance Review to explore creating parish or community councils for the borough once the borough council itself is dissolved. The consultation, which asked residents how local representation should continue under a unitary structure, closed at 11.59pm on Thursday 9 October 2025. Results will be analysed and reported to the council later this year.
LocalGov
It is not clear how an election can be held for unitary council with no name and with geography yet to be decided. The districts for the unitary authority will need to be decided and the number of councillors for each district.
A preliminary executive structure will need to be created for each unitary authority in Surrey. Staff will have to appointed to run the elections and decide the structure, the offices and the services, and prepare the transition from multiple boroughs to one or two unitary authorities. In Surrey, the staff can be appointed or selected from 11 borough councils or the county council or maybe recruited externally.
Surrey has an area of 1,663 km2 (642 square miles) and a population in excess of 1,214,000 people. If there are to be two unitary authorities, the logistics and complexity of creating two councils are likely to be challenging.
2026 Local Elections in UK
The 2026 United Kingdom local elections will take place on Thursday 7 May 2026. These include elections for all London borough councils. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2022.
Some of these elections were postponed from the previous year while reorganisation takes place. The government announced that elections to nine councils would not take place in 2025 to allow restructuring to take place, with elections to reformed or newly created replacement authorities taking place in 2026.
Unitary authorities
New unitary authorities are scheduled to be formed in nine regions, with the first elections to the authorities expected to be held in 2026. The election year has not yet been confirmed for all of them; some may hold their first election in 2027 instead of 2026.
- East Sussex
- Brighton and Hove,
- Essex
- Southend-on-Sea
- Thurrock
- Hampshire
- Isle of Wight
- Norfolk
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- West Sussex
Wikipedia has more information on the above. See the link below.
2026 United Kingdom local elections
There are major questions about planning. Each borough in Surrey has a Local Plan. The policy of each council is different but there are some similarities, with different priorities.
- How will be the planning be decided for Epsom and Ewell in a unitary authority that includes four or maybe six boroughs?
- How will Local Plans be managed or merged when councils are combined?
There are also major questions on finance. Woking Borough Council went bankrupt in 2023. Mole Valley was close to bankruptcy in November 2024.
- How will the finances be balanced when these councils are combined with other councils?
- How will debts and assets be transferred?
- How will residential and business rates be calculated in 2027?
The details of the changes are to be defined, but the timescales are surprisingly short. The changes are being rushed! The information below is currently available, subject to change.
https://www.surreylgrhub.org/timelines
Timelines
The reorganisation process is expected to progress quickly, below is a summary of the key timelines and milestones as part of Surrey’s Local Government Reorganisation. They are very optimistic. IT Systems will need to be integrated for several councils.
Autumn 2025
Final decision from Ministers on the future local government structures in Surrey.
May 2026
Elections for new unitary councils to take place.
April 2027
New unitary councils expected to be in place.
Shape Surrey’s Future
Surrey residents had their say on the future of local government in the county, in a new survey launched by most of Surrey’s district and borough councils.
Thank you for participating in the resident engagement – Shaping Surrey’s Future, which has now closed. The results of the engagement are incorporated throughout the District’s and Borough’s Local Government Reorganisation Full Proposal, and are summarised on pages 26 to 28.
Surrey District and Borough Council Final Proposal (260 pages)
Ewell Green Belt 