Local Government Reorganisation

Al Pinkerton Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Angela Rayner]

I say again that the review does not include the reorganisation of Surrey. Councillors have been elected and new councils go live from 1 April.

[Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)]

You wait a while and two Surrey questions come along at once! One of the potential unintended consequences of today’s announcement is to leave Surrey in the slightly discomfiting position of being in an experimental cohort with a sample size of one—the one county being reorganised under this legislation. We all know why: it is because the Conservative-run Surrey county council begged the Government to put it on this rollercoaster with no known destination and, as it turns out today, with legally slightly shonky rails. Do the legal concerns that the Secretary of State has expressed today also relate to Surrey? If Surrey is affected by those legal concerns, what faith should my residents have that this experiment is not going to come fully off the rails before 1 April 2027?

[Angela Rayner]

I gently say that, for me, this is not an experiment; it is about working with local areas to deliver local services and improve on them. The review does not include the reorganisation of Surrey. As I said, councillors have been elected already, and the new councils go live on 1 April 2027. I hope that Surrey, with the two new unitary councils, will be able to deliver across the area on vital services, like adult social care, transport and those good services that people want to see across their area, and I will work with them to deliver that.