Published Friday, 9th May 2025

At council meetings this week, Reigate & Banstead councillors confirmed support for a three unitary arrangement in Surrey.

This would see Reigate & Banstead merge with Tandridge, Mole Valley and Epsom & Ewell to form one new unitary council.

It was also agreed to submit a separate report to Government regarding bringing Reigate & Banstead and Crawley Borough Council together.

All proposals for local government reorganisation in Surrey must be submitted to Government by today, 9 May.

Cllr Richard Biggs, Leader of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council said “I am pleased that we have agreement to submit these two proposals to Government today.

 “I am confident that a three unitary model in Surrey will achieve the best balance of delivering value for money for our residents whilst maintaining strong local connections and identities, maximising local economic growth in the surrounding areas and delivering high-quality service.

“With our district and borough colleagues, we’ve worked hard to put a strong case to Government – with input from our residents. We now hope that Government considers our proposals in their entirety and makes the positive choice for the region. Thank you to everyone who has provided input on this journey so far.”

Next steps

Government is expected to decide on proposals by the end of the year. If approved, legislation will be passed to allow the changes, and elections for new shadow unitary councils will be held in May 2026, with a view to the new unitaries going live in May 2027.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

  1. Proposals

All proposals are published on modern gov:

  • District & Borough three unitary model is appendix 1
  • Surrey County Council favoured two unitary model is appendix 2
  • Crawley and Reigate & Banstead submission is appendix 3.
  1. Geographic areas

In the proposed three unitary model for Surrey, preferred geographic areas are:

  • East Surrey: Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead, Tandridge (population 410,000 residents)
  • North-west Surrey: Elmbridge, Runnymede, Spelthorne (population 330,000 residents)
  • South-west Surrey: Guildford, Waverley, Woking, Surrey Heath (population 470,000 residents).