One East Sussex - the business case

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One East Sussex was the detailed proposal for a single council for the county, to serve its 555,000 residents and its businesses from 2028.

The evidence-based business case was developed over several months following the government’s decision to replace the present two-tier structure of county council and borough/district councils. It was worked up by all six existing councils in East Sussex and drew on detailed evidence, analysis and the views of local people.

One East Sussex showed that a single unitary council would be simpler for residents, would save money, and would avoid the extra complexity of splitting up existing services.

It would also meet the government’s guidelines for new unitary councils and would preserve the partnerships between councils, NHS, emergency services and government so that we could continue to develop services with our communities.

The proposal was submitted to government in September 2025.

In July 2026 the Government announced it would go ahead with a variant of the One East Sussex proposal. This would see East Saltdean, Peacehaven and Telscombe transferred into an expanded  Brighton and Hove. The large majority of the present East Sussex area (with a population of around 530,000) would remain together and form a new single council.

However this plan was paused in September 2026 when the Government said it wanted to review its earlier decisions on local government reorganisation. 

One East Sussex - read the full business case

Appendix

Annexes