Letter: There is No Time for Proper Public Consultation

Published on: 27 Oct, 2026
Updated on: 27 Oct, 2026

From Bernard Quoroll

former local authority CEO

In response to reader’s comment on: East Surrey’s New Logo Is Announced

Peter Hyde is right in one sense when he says, “It’s not a rebranding exercise,” but he’s wrong in another.

Yes, it is of course technically a new organisation, which will want to establish a new identity. But most of the people that work in it will be the same.

It will be heavily dominated by a county culture – aloof and distant, not local and streetwise. Once you open its shiny new hood, the same oily engine will be spluttering away beneath. Of course they want a new identity. It is no surprise that it is the first thing they do.

West Surrey is currently asking its residents what they think about the priorities of the new council? Did you get a letter?

The news has just appeared in The Dragon. Go online and you will find that we have all been given just three weeks (of which only two remain), to say just what kind of council we would like.

See: Residents Can Help Shape the Future of West Surrey Council – But Deadline Looms

Well not quite – it is presented that way but has already largely been written. Its key ambitions have been lifted straight out the good council playbook. They are motherhood statements which could apply anywhere.

There is no real recognition of West Surrey’s distinctive character or its communities, or the needs and aspirations of places as different as Surrey Heath, with its proud military heritage, or Woking, which is becoming a dormitory town for London.

The unvarnished truth is that there is a race on just to get the doors open for business on April 1 next year. (The significance of that date may not have escaped you).

Their chief executive is not yet even in place. The officers will I am sure make it happen but that is only the beginning. That is when the real work of engagement and strategy formulation should begin. It should not above all be an anodyne, one-size-fits-all document which commits the council for the next five years. .

It should start by asking the public, all the political parties, local businesses and future partners what they know and want. It should importantly include what front line and senior managers in the council have to say – not be just a faux engagement exercise with a few drop-in events.

Nor should it be “something we prepared earlier”.

It should also respond to the implications of a massive debt burden following its previously announced budget and whatever the government may say about a Mayor, both of which have profound consequences for the future success of the area.

A good starting point would be to design a council which is not just strategic in outlook but local in responsiveness and delivery. A strategy which can have any hope of achieving that will take real commitment and time . It should ideally be integrated into the political and managerial structure of the council itself. Until that happens, I will not hold my breath, although some people might hope that I do!

Whatever happened to the new leader’s promise that West Surrey would soon see proposals for the most locally focussed council ever seen in the UK and within three weeks? That was months ago.

As I have said before, better to under promise and over perform.