CPRE Sussex views on Sussex & Brighton Devolution consultation

CPRE Sussex has responded to the consultation on the proposal to form a Mayoral Combined County Authority for the local government areas of East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council, and Brighton and Hove City Council (Sussex and Brighton).

CPRE Sussex sees some welcome opportunities in the return of strategic planning – especially on transport, energy and land use – at the sub-regional scale. Combined with an effective Land Use Framework, a thoughtful Regional Energy Spatial Plan, a focus on active travel and public transport, and a prioritisation of eco-housing for social rent in accordance with local need and in sustainable locations, a Mayoral Combined County Authority could benefit Sussex and beyond.

But we are greatly concerned that the current proposals will take local government away from local people, centralising rather than devolving, and risk ignoring the complex physical, social and political geography of an overwhelmingly rural area with an urban-focused and distant administration.

The consultation suggests a woeful lack of focus on the environment, climate mitigation and adaptation, the countryside and especially nature, wildlife and ecosystems.

Sustainable decisions should be based on consideration of economic, social and environmental considerations with equal weight being given to each. Nature is far from a blocker of development. All human wealth and health is derived from the planet’s natural systems of which nature is a part. In recent months the Department has omitted this important consideration from its work, for example in omitting natural capital from the list of capitals important to human and economic development. Bad decisions and governance structures will be the result of ignoring the important of natural capital and ecosystems This is not difficult to put right. But, unless the current imbalance in what is proposed is corrected as we suggest in response to relevant questions the people and natural systems of Sussex will pay for such bad decisions in coming years.

Importantly, the proposals create a democratic deficit and lack of resources for implementation. Above all, they appear to place an empty ‘growth at all costs’ mantra at the heart of the new authority, ahead of a balanced approach to sustainable development which would recognise that healthy ecosystems are the foundation upon which all human activity rests. In some senses, the proposals are akin to the long defunct Regional Development Agencies that failed due to a lack of democratic transparency and accountability and a failure to respond to local needs – as they were deaf to some of local voices they should have been responding to.

We hope that these fundamental flaws are addressed in the final shape of any emerging Authority.

Brief responses to the consultation questions follow with full responses at: CPRE SUSSEX Response to the Sussex devolution consultation 13 April 2025.docx

Question 1: Whether establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority over the proposed geography will deliver benefits to the area entirely depends on the precise powers that the Authority eventually has, and how they are used.

Question 2: We disagree most strongly with the proposed governance arrangements for the Mayoral Combined County Authority. Members of the Authority should be directly elected not just appointed.

Question 3: Working across the proposed geography through the Mayoral Combined County Authority could support the economy of the area but this will depend on the actions taken by the Authority.

Question 4: We neither agree nor disagree that working across the proposed geography through the Mayoral Combined County Authority will improve social outcomes in the area.

Question 5: We disagree that working across the proposed geography through a Mayoral Combined County Authority will improve local government services in the area.     

Question 6: We strongly disagree that working across the proposed geography through a Mayoral Combined County Authority will improve the local natural environment and overall national environment.

Question 7: We strongly disagree that working across the proposed geography through the Mayoral Combined County Authority will support the interests and needs of local communities and reflect local identities.

See: 

• our full answers to the above questions in the Sussex & Brighton devolution consultation, including what we are calling for. CPRE SUSSEX Response to the Sussex devolution consultation 13 April 2025.docx
• consultation: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/sussex-and-brighton-devolution/sussex-and-brighton-devolution-consultation