The information below is from the web site for Surrey County Council. SCC appear to be driving the creation of the East Surrey and West Surrey Unitary Authorities.
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/lgr
The link below has the latest news from Future Surrey. A web site that has been created for communication about Local Government Reorganisation, the evolution of East Surrey and West Surrey Unitary Councils.
West Surrey Council: 90 councillors across 45 wards.
East Surrey Council: 72 councillors across 36 wards.
Each ward will elect two councillors in May 2026. The wards are reflective of the current Surrey County Council boundaries.
Based on the above Epsom and Ewell will have 10 councillors out of 72 in East Surrey Council, which is 14% of the full council. Five borough councils have been merged to create East Surrey Council, but Epsom and Ewell have less than a sixth of the councillors.
The number of councillors in East Surrey compares with 35 councillors in Epsom & Ewell Borough Council.
Due to the scale, complexity and timescales of work to be delivered, new voluntary joint committees, made up of existing councillors from the borough, district and county councils, are now meeting monthly to lay the foundations for the transition. This will last until the elections of the shadow authorities.
Read the meeting papers for the West Surrey Voluntary Joint Committee and the East Surrey Voluntary Joint Committee.
West Surrey Voluntary Joint Committee
East Surrey Voluntary Joint Committee
Strategic Authority
We’re also working with government on plans that could bring more powers and funding into the county through a strategic authority, helping us make an even bigger difference.
There will be a third authority that will cover all of Surrey, but the scope of this is to be decided.
Meetings of Voluntary Joint Committees
So far there has been one meeting to discuss East Surrey Unitary and one meeting to discuss West Surrey Unitary. Meetings are expected to be monthly, so there may only be three more meetings before the elections for East Surrey and West Surrey in May 2026. No information is available yet on the structure and the name of the new authorities in Surrey. There is a huge amount of detail to be discussed and finalised.
Agenda for East Surrey Voluntary Joint Committee on Thursday, 15 January 2026, 3.30 pm – Surrey County Council
There was a huge amount of information provided in the agenda for the first meeting in the supporting information. Please check the link below.
East Surrey Voluntary Joint Committee
Mike Rollins – Elmbridge BC (Claygate)
Hannah Dalton – Epsom and Ewell BC (Stoneleigh)
Bridget Kendrick – Mole Valley DC (Leatherhead South)
Richard Biggs – Reigate and Banstead BC (Horley West and Sidlow)
Natalie Bramhall – Surrey CC (Redhill West and Meadvale)
Helyn Clack – Surrey CC (Dorking Rural)
Stephen Cooksey – Surrey CC (Dorking South and the Holmwoods)
David Lewis – SCC (Cobham)
Steven McCormick – SCC (Epsom Town and Downs)
Catherine Sayer – Tandridge DC (Oxted North)
Total Implementation Costs Estimated in Business Case for SCC LGR
Redundancy and Early Retirement (£11.8m)
Implementation and Programme Delivery (£26.8m)
IT Consolidation and Change (£37.6m)
Branding and Communications (£2.0m)
Shadow Authorities Prior to Vesting Day (£1.3m)
Creation of New Councils (£2.0m)
Closedown of Old Councils (£1.4m)
Elections to Shadow Authorities (£3.6m)
Contingency (£7.1m)
Total Implementation Costs £93.5m
The costs for redundancy and early retirement look very low. The cost could be £15k per member of staff, so the budget is to lose around 787 staff.
There are 12 councils to closedown, 2 councils to be created. The costs for closedowns is far too low, £12million would be more realistic.
Wikipedia has pages for East Surrey and West Surrey Unitary Authorities. These are being updated regularly as more details emerge. There are parliamentary constituencies called East Surrey and West Surrey, so there will be confusion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Surrey
East Surrey will be a unitary authority area scheduled to be created in Surrey, England, by 2027.[1] The first councillors will be elected in the 2026 East Surrey Council election.[2] The area will be formed from five existing districts: Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge. East Surrey will be a unitary authority area scheduled to be created in Surrey, England, by 2027.[1] The first councillors will be elected in the 2026 East Surrey Council election.[2] The area will be formed from five existing districts: Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Surrey
West Surrey will be a unitary authority area scheduled to be created in Surrey, England by summer 2027. It covers a western half of the county of Surrey, including the county town of Guildford. It will replace Surrey County Council and six district councils, most of which had borough status and branding, from north to south: Spelthorne, Runnymede, Surrey Heath, Woking, Guildford, and Waverley.
Ewell Green Belt 