Waste contracts and the coroner would be run from West Surrey under the service split going to scrutiny on Wednesday. Bin crews and library counters stay east.

On 1 April 2027, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council stops existing. So does Surrey County Council and every other district and borough in the county. Two new unitary authorities, East Surrey Council and West Surrey Council, take over everything.

Papers published this week finally say which one would run what.

The East Surrey Shadow Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee examines the plan on Wednesday 9 September at 2pm, at Reigate Town Hall. The Shadow Executive is asked to agree it on 14 September. The West Surrey Shadow Executive is considering the mirror image of the same recommendations.

The three ways a service can move

The report calls this “service configuration”. Every service is put into one of a few boxes.

  • Aggregated. Work currently done by the boroughs and districts moves into East or West Surrey Council according to geography. Reigate and Banstead’s services come to East Surrey. Bin collections, planning and homelessness sit here.
  • Disaggregated. Work currently done only by Surrey County Council is divided between the two new councils. Most adult social care is in this group.
  • Hosted. One council runs the service for both, either for a fixed interim period or in the long term. This is the box worth paying attention to, because it decides where a service is actually based.
  • A small number stay whole. The Surrey Pensions function transfers entire to a new Pensions Authority, and fire goes to a Combined Fire and Rescue Authority.

Crucially, the report stresses that none of this is a redesign. Any restructuring happens after April 2027. These are the starting positions.

What would be run from West Surrey

Several services that East Surrey residents use would be hosted by the western council on our behalf.

  • Waste contracts and infrastructure, hosted by West for 18 to 36 months, along with waste communications and behaviour change work
  • Joint Waste Solutions, hosted by West, with the review point left as a future decision for the new authorities
  • The Coroner’s Service, hosted by West in the long term
  • Registrations statutory roles and the Copy Certificates Team, hosted by West for 6 to 18 months
  • Surrey History Centre, hosted by West in the long term
  • Surrey Arts Music Hub and the Heritage Service archaeology team, both hosted by West for 6 to 18 months

Note what is not in that list. Frontline bin collection is aggregated, so it comes to East Surrey Council. It is the contract and disposal machinery behind it that would sit in the west. Frontline library staff and frontline registrars are also split between the two councils, so the counters stay local.

What would be run from East Surrey

  • Libraries infrastructure activities, hosted by East for 6 to 18 months
  • Emergency planning, hosted by East for 18 to 36 months
  • Prison social work, hosted by East until March 2028
  • Surrey Online School, hosted by East until September 2027
  • The High Weald National Landscape management work, because Tandridge is the only Surrey district that touches the High Weald

There is also a small Reigate and Banstead footnote. The MOT service for taxis and private hire vehicles goes to East for the simple reason that Reigate and Banstead is the only council in Surrey that runs one.

What changed over the summer

The July papers set out an indicative steer. Eight things have moved since, and the report lists each with its reason.

Service Was Now
Children’s Single Point of Access Interim hosted Split east and west
Road safety enforcement and speed management Interim hosted Split east and west
Surrey Online School Split east and west Hosted by East to September 2027
Transport studies Split east and west Interim hosted, host to be decided
Climate adaptation Split east and west Interim hosted, host to be decided
Prison social work Not previously included Hosted by East to March 2028
Internal audit Partial interim host, unresolved Partial interim host, 12 months
Treasury management Partial long-term host Partial interim host, 18 months

The reasons are practical rather than political. The children’s front door moved to a straight split because of “increased confidence in operational readiness”. Road safety enforcement moved because a software solution was found that removes the continuity risk. Prison social work was left out in July only because its funding was short term, and that funding has since been extended.

Two of the changes point somewhere else entirely. Climate adaptation and transport studies are both now flagged as possible functions for a Foundation Strategic Authority, a proposed layer above the two unitaries. The government is consulting on it, and a separate item on Wednesday’s agenda covers a joint East and West Surrey response.

The decisions still to come

A number of services are described as “authority agnostic”: there is no reason to base them in either council specifically. Recommendations on where those land come back to the Shadow Executive in October 2026.

Adult social care is being divided using Ordinary Residence, the test in the Care Act 2014 that decides which authority is responsible for meeting someone’s care needs. Caseload analysis has informed the split, though the report says volume is only one factor and case complexity was weighed too. Five adults units would be interim hosted: four for 6 to 18 months and one for 18 to 36 months. Three would be hosted long term, including the Community Equipment Service and Active Surrey.

What it means for you

Very little changes for you before 1 April 2027. Your bins, your council tax bill and your planning applications carry on as they are until then.

What this week’s papers tell you is where things go afterwards, and the honest answer is that most of it stays close to home. Frontline services follow geography, so the counter you visit and the crew that empties your bin come to East Surrey Council.

The parts moving west are mostly back office and specialist: the waste contract rather than the collection, the copy certificates team rather than the registrar, the archaeology team rather than the library. The coroner is the exception that will matter to families, and that is a long-term arrangement rather than an interim one.

If you want to follow it, the scrutiny meeting on 9 September is webcast, and the full 89-page appendix listing every service is published with the agenda for the East Surrey Shadow Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

None of this is settled until the Shadow Executive votes on 14 September, and the report is clear that West Surrey has to pass a matching resolution for it to take effect.

Sources