Local government reform a ‘useful incentive to review our work’
So, we finally have the government’s decision about new Unitary Authorities (UAs) for Surrey. Yvette Ball on changes with important implications for CAEE stakeholders and communities across the county.
Yvette is Chair of the Trustees Board at Citizens Advice Epsom & Ewell. (2 minutes)
As we thought, Epsom and Ewell will be part of the East Surrey UA, along with Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Tandridge and Elmbridge. The Borough Councils (BCs) will be dissolved with the new UA expected to begin operations in shadow form from April 2026 prior to taking full control from April 2027.
This has implications for CAEE as a small Local Citizens Advice charity. In particular, our relationship and alignment with Epsom and Ewell BC will no longer exist for the funding they have awarded or services we have supplied. These will instead be commissioned from the East Surrey UA but will continue to serve the needs of our clients and local communities through different channels.
In turn, the changes have been a useful incentive for the East Surrey LCAs to look at our own operations.
Collaboration
We were already working on what many funders now require: larger units to award grants to and/or organisations in partnership applying as one body.
Now we’re also considering more urgently how we can adapt to create the most effective and efficient possible relationship with the UA. We’ve been discussing increased collaboration and the form it might take on a spectrum from informal partnerships through to full scale mergers.
It’s an exciting time for us to develop our best strategy for the future albeit we recognise it may be unsettling for staff, volunteers and clients. I suspect it will be a bumpy road ahead but with our mutual loyalty and passion to help the community I believe we can navigate successfully.