West Surrey Formation

The 21^st May 2026 is the first official meeting of the West Surrey Shadow Authority which will operate for 11 months prior to becoming the West Surrey Council (The new Unitary Authority) on 1^st April 2027.  The Shadow Authority is composed of the 90 Councillors elected on the 7^th May who will also be the councillors in the West Surrey Council upon its formation.  The first West Shadow Authority meeting will be held at Guildford Borough Offices in Guildford.

The current councils in the West Surrey area Surrey County Council, Guildford Borough Council, Waverley Borough Council, Woking Borough Council, Spelthorne Borough Council, Surrey Heath Borough Council and Runnymede Borough Council remain responsible for the delivery of all of their existing services, subject to transition arrangements.  They will cease to exist at the end of March 2027

Implementation Costs

To Fund the implementation costs for the two new councils West Surrey and East Surrey that cover the area of the Surrey County Council a single Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)Implementation Fund has been established to support the programme. The estimated costs prior to vesting day (1-4-2027) for the creation of two councils are estimated to be £35,300,000.

Key Individuals

By the time of the meeting on the 21^st May it is expected that the major political parties will have agreed who is leading their councillors and also named deputies.   As the largest Party the Leader of the LiberalDemocrats will become the head of the West Surrey Shadow Authority and ultimately the West Surrey Unitary Authority.  (We will update this post when names are available)

Three Interim Officer designations have been made to support the West Surrey Shadow Authority.  The interim officers will remain in place until the appointment of substantive/permanent postholders which must be by 31 December 2026. 

• Andy Brown – SCC – is Interim Head of Paid Service (Effectively the CEO)
• Vicky Radford - Surrey Heath - Interim Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer)
• Susan Sale - Guildford and Waverly Council - Interim Monitoring Officer

Responsibiliites of the  West Surrey Shadow Authority

The Authority  must manage and agree the following with no delegation of these responsibilities:

 a. adopting and amending the Constitution

b. adopting the Code of Conduct for councillors; 

c. electing and removing the Leader of the Shadow Authority; 

d. electing the Chair and appointing the Vice-Chair of the Shadow Authority; 

e. appointing the Independent Person under section 28 of the Localism Act

f. designating the interim Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer, and Chief Finance Officer

g. appointing the permanent Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer, and Chief Finance Officer of West Surrey Council before 31 December 2026,

h. confirming the dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer, or Chief Finance Officer

i. adopting the scheme of councillors' allowances for the shadow period; 

j. formulating proposals for the scheme of allowances for West Surrey Council; 

k. determining the allocation of seats on committees in accordance with

l. approving the budget and council tax for West Surrey Council for 2027/28; 

m. approving any supplementary estimate which exceeds 10 per cent of an approved budget head; 

n. approving the Implementation Plan and any material revision to it; 

o. adopting the constitution for West Surrey Council for use from Vesting Day; 

p. making, amending, revoking, or re-enacting standing orders; 

q. establishing joint arrangements with the West Surrey Shadow Authority or other bodies under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972; and 

r. any other function which by law may only be exercised by the Shadow Authority.

Shadow Authority Executive

This will be established to support the West Surrey Shadow Authority to:

a. keep under review, and revise as necessary, the Implementation Plan (within the scope approved by the Shadow Authority);

b. manage and oversee the overall transition programme;

c. approve individual project plans within the transition programme referred by the Head of Paid Service;

d. manage the financial affairs of the Shadow Authority within the budget approved by the Shadow Authority;

e. engage with Surrey County Council, the West Surrey Shadow Authority, and the West Surrey councils on service continuity and transition arrangements;

f. make recommendations to the Shadow Authority on the budget and financial strategy for West Surrey Council;

g. adopting and publishing the Scheme of Delegations to employees;

h. approve procurement decisions within the limits set by the Shadow Authority;

 i. determine consent under any direction issued by the Secretary of State under section 24 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007

 j. other functions as may from time to time be delegated to it by the Shadow Authority.

Spending Consultation

The current councils do need to consult the west Surrey Shadow Authority on certain matters of expenditure:

1. disposal of any land where the value exceeds £100,000; 

2.  any capital contract which exceeds  £1,000,000; or  which includes a term allowing the capital sum payable to be varied; 

3. any non-capital contract where the value exceeds £100,000, where the period of the contract extends beyond 1 April 2027; or under the terms of the contract, that period may be extended beyond that date. 

The Agenda and Papers for the first meeting can be fouund at this link