The plan to fold Worthing into a coastal council with Adur and Arun is on hold. Borough elections go ahead on 6 May 2027, and no new decision date is set.

The plan to abolish Worthing Borough Council and replace it with a coastal council for Adur, Arun and Worthing is on hold. The government has paused its programme of council mergers and put West Sussex into a review. It has set no date for a decision.

The first practical effect lands in May. Worthing’s next borough elections, on 6 May 2027, will go ahead on existing council boundaries. Under the old timetable, that polling day was expected to elect a shadow version of the new council instead.

The local government minister, Jim McMahon, set this out in a letter to West Sussex council leaders dated 7 September. He will lead the review himself. It covers the whole programme, including the 14 decisions the government made in July.

West Sussex is one of two areas “where decisions have not yet been taken”, he wrote, and it “will be considered as part of the review”. On elections, he was plain: “elections scheduled to take place in May 2027 will go ahead to existing council boundaries.”

How far the plan had got

Reorganisation would replace West Sussex’s two tiers, the county council and the district councils, with unitary councils that run every service. Worthing Borough Council would cease to exist.

  • 26 September 2025. Seven West Sussex district councils, Worthing among them, submitted a proposal for two unitary councils. Their version put Worthing with Adur, Arun and Chichester.
  • 25 March 2026. The government declined to choose and proposed a change. Chichester would move to the northern council, leaving a coastal council of Adur, Arun and Worthing.
  • 15 June 2026. The consultation on that change closed.
  • 16 July 2026. The decision was delayed again, to October. The councils still expected shadow elections in May 2027 and a new council from April 2028.
  • 7 September 2026. The whole programme was paused.

The government’s consultation gives the coastal council a population of around 349,000. The other West Sussex council, covering Crawley, Chichester, Horsham and Mid Sussex, would serve around 566,000.

Timeline of the plan to replace Worthing Borough Council: 26 September 2025 seven district councils submit a two-council plan; 25 March 2026 government proposes a coastal council of Adur, Arun and Worthing, population around 349,000; 15 June 2026 consultation closes; 16 July 2026 decision delayed to October; 7 September 2026 programme paused; 6 May 2027 Worthing borough elections go ahead on existing boundaries

Worthing backed the coastal council, on one condition

Worthing’s leader, Cllr Caroline Baxter, wrote to the then Secretary of State on 15 June in support of the coastal council. Her support came with a warning about money.

“Based on updated local financial modelling, the proposal to remove Chichester from the coastal footprint creates an immediate and significant financial imbalance between the two authorities,” she wrote.

She asked the government to say how it would keep the new coastal council financially sustainable. The mechanisms she suggested were:

  • legally binding arrangements on how funds are shared out across West Sussex
  • transitional equalisation between the two new councils
  • ministerial directions between them

Failing those, she said, direct transitional and long-term support from the government would be needed. Her support was given “subject to those assurances”.

After the pause, she said it was important that “any changes to local government in West Sussex are carefully considered and deliver the best outcomes for our residents and businesses”.

The councils had already been planning around it

The shared Adur and Worthing officer decision register shows reorganisation shaping ordinary spending decisions in the past fortnight.

On 2 September officers renewed the Idox public protection system for £100,991 plus VAT over three years rather than switch supplier. The record cites migration costs and “the prospect of Local Government Reorganisation impacting staff resources”.

On 10 September officers renewed Lookout mobile security software through Vodafone for 15 months, at £28,141.20. The contract length was chosen “to allow us flexibility to plan for future requirements in line with LGR plans”.

What is still unknown

The councils’ devolution page says the government “is working at pace to review these decisions and will report back to parliament at the earliest opportunity”. No timetable has been given.

The Sussex mayoralty is a separate process. The same page still gives May 2028 for the first mayoral election, and the minister’s letter does not mention it.

One line on the council’s upcoming elections page is now out of date. It still lists a “Shadow Authority (Unitary)” election on 6 May 2027, next to the Worthing Borough elections. Under the minister’s letter, that day will be an ordinary borough election.

Adur District Council, which covers Lancing and Shoreham a few miles east, elects by halves and has no election listed for 2027.

What it means for you

  • Your services do not change. The borough council still collects your bins and sets its share of your council tax. All eight West Sussex councils carry on as usual, the councils said in July.
  • You vote on 6 May 2027. About a third of Worthing’s borough councillors are elected that day, as in any normal year. You can register to vote online.
  • Planning stays with Worthing for now. Applications and the next Local Plan remain the borough council’s job. Our planning page tracks the big schemes.

Sources