‘Ending the two-tier system and establishing new unitary councils.’ That was the government’s line on Tuesday 28 October as Surrey’s reorganisation moved from proposal to implementation. Ministers confirmed plans for East Surrey and West Surrey, while officials wrote to council chief executives to set out the legal steps now coming at pace.

The ministry’s implementation letter sets a tight timetable: Surrey chiefs have until Friday 7 November to flag factual corrections to a draft Structural Changes Order. After informal scrutiny with parliamentary lawyers, ministers aim to lay the Order in early January, triggering committee scrutiny in both Houses ahead of May 2026 elections.

The Order will create two ‘shadow’ councils elected in May 2026 to prepare budgets and plans before full powers transfer on 1 April 2027. Wards for those elections mirror the 81 county electoral divisions set in the Surrey (Electoral Changes) Order 2024, with two councillors per ward for the first term. The term runs five years to 2031, before moving to the standard four-year cycle following a Local Government Boundary Commission review.

East Surrey will group Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge. West Surrey will bring together Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking. Returning officers will be the heads of paid service at Reigate & Banstead (East) and Runnymede (West). The new councils must run a Leader-and-Cabinet model and appoint statutory officers during the shadow year.

Implementation will be driven through Joint Committees with a 50:50 split between county and the districts/boroughs, and an Implementation Team led by the Surrey County Council chief executive with deputies from the new East and West areas. The letter also encourages using sector adviser John Metcalfe as an independent ‘critical friend’ so work starts before the Order is made.

Whitehall is minded to issue a Section 24 ‘control of contracts’ direction to stop large long-term deals or asset sales that could cut across reorganisation. Based on the Cumbria precedent, officials propose an effective date of 30 June, shortly after the May 2026 polls, with Spelthorne and Woking excluded given existing statutory interventions. For context, the 2022 directions in Cumbria, Somerset and North Yorkshire capped land disposals and set thresholds for contracts requiring consent.

Alongside the structural plan sits hard cash. Ministers announced in-principle support to repay £500m of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026–27, describing it as ‘significant and unprecedented’, subject to further assurance and the finance settlement. Spelthorne and Woking remain under close oversight; the department has appointed commissioners in Spelthorne and Woking has operated under intervention since its 2023 Section 114 notice.

Notably, residents told government they preferred three unitary councils. Of 5,617 responses to the consultation, the three-unitary option drew broadly positive answers, while the two-unitary model drew more negatives. Ministers chose two unitaries on financial sustainability grounds, and because police, fire and health bodies said two councils aligned better with service footprints.

For northern readers, the playbook is familiar. Cumbria elected shadow members in 2022 and went live on 1 April 2023; North Yorkshire followed the same model. After the main Order, a supplementary Order typically cleans up pensions, housing revenue accounts and ceremonial matters. Expect the same here, with the supplementary instrument timed for Surrey’s vesting day in April 2027.

There are practical lessons for council leaders and finance directors north of the Trent. Section 24 will pause big contracts and disposals; transition teams should be set early; and shadow budgets need to land months before vesting day. Cumbria’s 2022 direction shows the kind of thresholds that apply, while Surrey’s draft confirms joint committees and an implementation team to steady the handover.

Local voices who’ve been through reorganisation are clear about the prize. ‘Devolution is about shifting power and resources from Whitehall to Cumbria,’ said Cumberland’s leader Mark Fryer this month. North Yorkshire’s Carl Les argued a single council meant ‘just one number to call’ when his authority was created in 2023.

One more northern angle to watch: ministers want a Surrey-wide strategic authority for transport and adult skills, subject to tests and local consent. That sounds familiar to combined authority arrangements already in place across the North. Officials also stress that Surrey sets no precedent; each area will be decided on its merits.

What happens next is largely procedural but important. The ministry will finalise the draft Order after 7 November feedback, lay it in early January, and, if approved, clear the way for May 2026 all-out elections and an April 2027 vesting day. We’ll keep tracking what this means for northern councils considering their own reorganisations.