Thriving Together - Fund

Using digital engagement, neighbourhood conversations and deliberative events, Thriving Together created welcoming and creative ways for people to share ideas on devolution and LGR as well as the future of the places they live. 

The process produced a People’s Vision with seven aims and 21 actions covering priorities that include keeping decisions local, investing in community and culture, creating better places, and focusing on young people. 

These informed our new draft Fair, Green & Local corporate strategy and our submission to Government.

We want to thank everyone that took part and the priorities developed as part of our Thriving Together engagement

Recommendations to the government

We have submitted recommendations to the government to merge with Arun and Chichester as part of local government reorganisation (LGR) plans.

Two full council meetings were held this week for all councillors in Adur and Worthing to discuss the business case for LGR, which was developed collaboratively by all local authorities in West Sussex.

The business case presents a shared evidence base for all councils, but does not recommend a single preferred option. Councillors and council officers have this week been considering the full range of evidence and analysis presented in the business case to determine their own preference for submission to the government.

We believe that a two-unitary model that combines the current Adur, Arun, Chichester and Worthing footprints will be large enough to be efficient, and small enough for the new council to genuinely be connected to the communities it will serve.

Additional benefits of a two-unitary model over a single unitary include enhanced local democracy with a better ratio of councillors to residents and greater representation for the West Sussex population at the new mayoral combined authority. Localised and integrated public services in crucial areas like social care, housing and prevention would also be delivered, and the councils would be better aligned to the specific strengths of the county’s two distinct economic zones. 

The recommendations for a two-unitary option were also informed by public feedback from the Shaping West Sussex survey, which demonstrated strong support in favour of two unitaries that keep Adur and Worthing together, as well as evidence from our Thriving Together public engagement exercise.

To find out more about devolution and LGR and the next steps, please visit https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/devolution/.