Arundel and South Downs MP, Andrew Griffith, has called on all West Sussex County Councillors to resist any notion of carving West Sussex up into separate administrations as part of Local Government Reorganisation.
Andrew Griffith has shared his congratulations to every councillor elected to West Sussex County Council in last week’s local elections. But while the council currently has no overall control because no single political party gained enough of a share of the council seats to lead it, the MP said it is incumbent on all councillors to prioritise the structure of the next iteration of local government.
The MP said that he looks forward to working constructively with all the newly elected county councillors of any persuasion to protect the rural communities from unsustainable over-development, ensure good quality public services and keep the council tax low.
He points out that last week’s result – which saw the governing Labour Party which came up with the proposal to scrap West Sussex fall to fifth place in both councillors and share of the vote – was the closest thing to a referendum on the plans and they were decisively rejected. This should therefore be the end of the top-down, proposals to break up of our historic county into separate unitary councils.
Andrew Griffith said:
“My congratulations to every councillor elected, and my commiserations to the many excellent candidates who put themselves but did not win this time.
“Elected councillors and their parties now need to work together and agree upon a fundamental policy of a single unitary authority for West Sussex. The last thing we need are two authorities with two town halls, two sets of expensive officers, two fragmented school catchment areas and years of disruption to services. Their decision will have long lasting impacts for residents, and it is the residents who they have been elected to represent.”
