Insights: The Gathering Storm – Part 3

Published on: 29 May, 2026
Updated on: 29 May, 2026

By Bernard Quoroll

Former local authority CEO

I ended my last Insights commentary by mentioning the announcement by the new West Surrey Council leader of a brave new localising agenda at the first meeting of the  shadow council on 21st May.  

It was the meeting where political posts were filled and interim transitional directors were appointed.  I now continue in the light of my observations of that meeting…

I have little doubt that it will be up and running on vesting day.”

I start with a note of optimism. There  is every sign that those elected are rolling up their sleeves and getting on with the job, which is important because there is only 12 months before it replaces the seven councils currently delivering services in West Surrey.  It is a mammoth task because the new council has a huge job to do and insufficient time to do it properly.

I have little doubt that it will be up and running on vesting day.  In have more doubts about what kind of council it will be.

If you have read my two previous Insights pieces you will understand why.  One mega council with a population of around 600,000 souls and literally hundreds of communities of differing size and aspiration will find it hard, if not impossible to think locally and will inevitably be too remote from citizens.

West Surrey will be one of the most unrepresented places in Europe!”

Ninety elected representatives will not be enough to bridge the gap.  There will be roughly one councillor to every 6,500 residents.  The average in the UK is 1: 2,500.  (In Europe it ranges from 1:120 (France) through 1:400 (Germany) to 1: 2,500 (Ireland)).

West Surrey will be one of the most unrepresented places in Europe!  It will feel more like local administration than government.  Expect to wait even longer for your emails to be answered and be less satisfied with responses to your pressing individual problems as citizens.

Face to face meetings will be a rarity.  But your bins will probably still be emptied on time.  Newly elected councillors will be shocked by the workload, if they want to do the job properly.  The combined revenue budget will be around three quarters of a billion pounds.  The accrued debt, if nothing changes, is mind blowing; it stands at a about £4.5 billion – the largest in UK history for a new council to inherit.

The design of the new council, so far, seems to have been being heavily influenced by the culture of the county council.  County officers are very technically competent but they pride themselves on being strategic.  At ground level, the vast majority of employees are of course every bit as streetwise as in districts but I am talking about the people who give leadership and set the tone.

Districts are typically much closer to the people they serve but less strategic in managerial outlook. This matters because without more resource, you might expect the new council to value efficiency more than responsiveness.

Getting the best of both cultures will be one of the biggest challenges for a new administration.  A leadership which understands this will be essential because they may want to go against the flow of some of the advice they are receiving and time is short.

There are  signs from the first meeting of the shadow council that these tensions are already emerging. The agenda for change presented to the  new council is unashamedly transitional not transformational.   The new leadership wants it to be both.

This is a laudable but challenging ambition in the time available. The whole emphasis in planning, so far, is on smooth transition, not reinvention.  It says that clearly in the very first report to the new council.  That is understandable because the task is huge and it will feel like success just to be able to open the doors safely for business.

There are  signs from the first meeting of the shadow council that … tensions are already emerging.”

But failing to think about the culture and structure of the new council in terms of localness will also be fatal to its long term responsiveness.  There are other tensions too.  County members typically meet in the day time.  District members tend to prefer evenings.

It may sound like a small domestic matter but  balancing home and official duties is always problematic for councillors.   Over the next year, (when to preserve honour, people will be meeting all over the new council area), they will have to travel across an area of 350 sq miles.  From vesting day in 2027 it will be more problematic.  Councillors have families too.

The new administration already feels it has been denied information about the planned aggregation and disaggregation of services (which services will be provided by whom), which councils own what assets (seeking a fair share of the split, expect some “civilised” conversations between East and West Surrey!), and perhaps most importantly, from my point of view, the content of a new corporate plan.

The opposition seem to fear that trying to move too fast, will endanger smooth transition (but seemed willing to withhold objection, perhaps in the expectation that they will be able to say “I told you so” later.

Whatever their political motives, the assertion that they are going to be constructive is reassuring.  Less reassuring is their claim that they are being excluded from key roles in scrutiny.

It is not uncommon for new administrations with a healthy majority to want to assert their authority and suppress opportunities for political criticism, but it is rarely good politics.   What one party does to another is reciprocated when they get their chance, and over time, they always get their chance.

If they really want to create a new culture for the organisation,  grand claims will not cut it.”

There is some truth however in what both are saying.  The new council’s mission, values and key objectives are a major component in driving the culture of new council but cannot easily just be imposed by a new administration. It is much more than just a form of words.   It needs to be the subject of consultation with all the new council’s stakeholders – the public, local partners, employees and even the opposition.

If they really want to create a new culture for the organisation,  grand claims will not cut it.  Their audience will need time to absorb it and an opportunity to influence it.  That will take more than a year and will require continuing engagement.

The new chief executive will not be in post until July and his or her understanding of the new administration’s intentions and the processes necessary to drive culture change will be critical to achieving the kind of council we get.

Their joint behaviours at the top, will set the tone for the whole council.  It also needs to be a merger not a takeover.  Remember, most mergers in the public and private sector do not meet their objectives.

The new administration has announced that it plans to introduce a new agenda for locality planning – more localising than anywhere else in the UK – a federated arrangement. The devil will be in the detail. It is a huge claim.

In current circumstances, I support the aspiration but I am deeply concerned about implementation in the time available and on the implication that the new administration might try to do it to, not with, the new council and its stakeholders.

Remember, most mergers in the public and private sector do not meet their objectives.” 

Why is the task of amalgamation so difficult?  County services lend themselves to larger service delivery areas.  Services like Adult Care are bespoke to individuals. In other words they are built around one to one relationships not geography.

That has two consequences that I want to mention.  The first is that the relationship between care and health services is more efficient on a large  area basis. A smaller geography increases the cost of interaction between health and care.

Care services gobble up two thirds of the available budget, are demand-led, and set to grow more.   Their clients are especially vulnerable because they have fewer advocates.

As one former leader elsewhere said to me to my horror, “there are no votes in social services”.  But care costs dwarf everything in the budget.

Please check back for Part 4

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