Cabinet minutes

Decided · A decision has been taken.

Cabinet met on 24 September 2025 at County Hall, Lewes. p1

Cabinet resolved to approve submission of a business case to Government for a single unitary council for East Sussex, and to ask Government to cancel or postpone the county council elections due in May 2026. p15

Cabinet noted the Council's Q1 2025/26 monitoring position and approved an amendment to the recorded outturn for the unclassified roads measure. p16

Cabinet noted the Ashdown Forest Trust's income, expenditure and balance sheet for 2024/25, and approved drawing £99,200 from the General Reserve to fund tree surveys and works across the forest. p23p24

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• p1Minutes Template Cabinet MINUTES of a meeting of the Cabinet held on 24 September 2025 at Council Chamber, County Hall, Lewes
• p15</AI4> <AI5> 17. Local Government Reorganisation: Proposal for a single tier of local government across East Sussex 17.1 The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Executive. 17.2 It was RESOLVED to: 1) Approve the submission of the business case setting out the proposal for a single unitary council for East Sussex, based on a Continuing Authority model, (Appendix 1 of the report) to Government by 26 September 2025; 2) Agree to request Government to cancel or postpone the county council elections scheduled to be held in May 2026; 3) Delegate to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, authority to finalise and submit the business case setting out the proposal and a covering letter formally requesting the cancellation or postponement of the county elections and for the County Council to have Continuing Authority status; and 4) Note the next steps in the process. Reasons 17.3 In response to the Government’s invitation for a single tier of local government, a proposal was developed with district and borough involvement. The six councils collaborated to create an evidence-based business case based on resident and stakeholder feedback, financial analysis, and economic considerations. The report summarises the development and recommends, for the reasons set out in the report and in its appendices, the proposal for a single-tier government in East Sussex. 17.4 Should the proposal and suggested timetable be accepted by Government with an election anticipated in 2027 the cancellation of the County Council election in 2026 will address cost, resource constraints, the upcoming transition to a new authority, and the short term that new councillors would serve before re-election.
• p16</AI5> <AI6> 18. Council Monitoring Report - Q1 2025/26 18.1 The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Executive. 18.2 It was RESOLVED to: 1) note the latest monitoring position for the Council; and 2) approve the amendment of the outturn for the unclassified roads measure set out in paragraph 2.2 of the report. Reasons 18.3 The report sets out the Council’s position and year-end projections for the Council Plan targets, Revenue Budget, Capital Programme, and Savings Plan, together with Risks at the end of June 2025. 18.4 The outturn of 31% for the unclassified roads measure will be replaced with a null outturn (represented as ‘not available’ in the Council Plan) for the 2024/25 year due to identified data quality issues as detailed at Appendix 6 of the report.
• p2320.2 It was RESOLVED to: 1) note the report and the Ashdown Forest’s Trust Income and Expenditure Account for 2024/25 and Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2025; and
• p242) approve the draw of £99,200 from the General Reserve to fund a programme of tree surveys and works across the forest.