Community Governance Review
Pages in Community Governance Review
- 1. Community Governance Review
- 2. You are here: About the review process
- 3. About parish and town councils
2. About the review process
A Community Governance Review is a legal process that gives residents and organisations an opportunity to share their views on the most suitable ways of representing the people at a community level. It enables a ‘principal council’, such as Reigate & Banstead Council, to review, put in place or make changes to ‘local council’ arrangements; for example, by creating, merging, abolishing or changing parish or town council boundaries.
We decided to carry out a CGR now because:
- Government guidance advises that a review should be carried out every 10 to 15 years and there has been no full review in the Reigate and & Banstead area within this period.
- It gives local people an opportunity to consider community governance in light of local government reorganisation, which will see the two-tier arrangement of district and borough councils and the county council all replaced with new unitary authorities from April 2027.
- We want to ensure there is clarity and transparency in the areas that local councils represent and that the electoral arrangements of parishes are appropriate, equal and easy to understand for the public and key stakeholders.
The Community Governance Review timetable
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 19 June to 17 July 2025 | Evidence gathering and public meetings to inform stakeholders of the process |
| 24 July to 18 September 2025 | Stage one consultation inviting initial submissions |
| 19 September to 7 November 2025 | Consideration of submissions and preparation of draft recommendations |
| 6 November 2025 | Draft recommendations to be considered by Full Council |
| 7 November to 16 January 2026 | Stage two consultation on draft recommendations |
| 19 January to 16 March 2026 | Consideration of submissions and preparation of final recommendations |
| 26 March 2026 | Full Council decision on the final recommendations |
What the review can and cannot consider
A Community Governance Review (CGR) can make a number of changes to the way local councils are governed when there is clear evidence these changes would be an improvement, including:
- creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes
- the naming of parishes and the style of new parishes including the potential creation of town and parish councils
- the electoral arrangements for parishes (for instance, the ordinary year of elections; council size; the number of councillors to be elected to the council, and parish warding)
- grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes
- other types of local arrangements, including parish meetings
The CGR cannot:
- change the number of councillors on the county or borough councils.
- change the style (e.g. town, parish, neighbourhood, community or village council) of existing councils.
- influence or change the amount of money that an existing parish or town council raises through council tax (known as ‘precept’).
The Community Governance Member Working Group
The Community Governance Review (CGR) will be overseen by a Community Governance Review Member Working Group, which is expected to take final recommendations to the Annual Full Council in March 2026.
When assessing any suggestions from interested parties, it will be required to take into account both the:
- impact of the community governance arrangements on community cohesion
- size, population and boundaries of a local community or parish suggestion
Final recommendations will also be required to ensure that community governance within the area under review would be:
- reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area; and
- effective and convenient