Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for devolution, local government reform and NSIPs, said: “It’s fairly well known that we strongly believe that replacing Suffolk’s six local authorities with a single new council would be smarter, simpler and better for our county.
"We’ve arrived where we have because early figures show it’s the only way to save money, improve services and keep your council tax as low as possible.
“But that doesn’t mean our proposal is the finished product. We want our plan to improve residents’ connection with their local council and we’d like their help to ensure that’s the case.
“A key part of this work is finding out what people think about the state of local government in Suffolk – and what their hopes are for the future.
"After all, it’s their council tax and services so what they think is vitally important.
“This survey will help us to develop our plan so that we can be confident it addresses the issues that matter most to you. I’d therefore encourage all Suffolk residents to take a moment to have their say.”
The survey only takes about 10 minutes to complete, and can be done online at www.suffolk.gov.uk/devolution, by emailing devolution@suffolk.gov.uk or by calling 0345 603 1842 where a member of Suffolk County Council’s customer services team can help residents to complete the survey.
People can also visit any of Suffolk’s 45 libraries to complete the survey online.
It asks questions about local democracy – such as how you raise issues that need addressing, local decision making – such as how you might want to get involved and about the specifics of council reorganisation itself.
The survey is open for eight weeks – until 4 August 2025.
The survey will play a part in helping Suffolk County Council to develop a comprehensive business plan that looks at the best way to organise councils and deliver public services in Suffolk – so that the Government has all the information it needs to decide which proposal(s) to put out to public consultation.
From best practice elsewhere in the country to the costs of various options currently on the table, no stone is being left unturned.
Whilst a final proposal is still to be developed, Suffolk County Council believes that a new single local council is the smartest, simplest, and best option for the whole of Suffolk which will deliver the biggest savings and most sustainable service improvements.
The council argues that any alternatives will have to work hard to justify the risks of breaking up critical services like social care, creating new council boundaries and smaller population sizes.
Early analysis by financial consultants PwC suggests that establishing a single new local council could cost around £19 million but that this could be repaid quickest through the significant financial savings achieved by having one council.
Alternatively, the cost of breaking Suffolk into two or even three – as proposed by Suffolk’s district and borough councils - would cost £7 million to £13 million more and, in the case of three new councils, that investment would never be repaid as there would be no savings to be found.
Councillor Rout said: “If we want our new structure to retain key local services and to be truly accessible, then the new council or councils needs to be able to afford to do so.
"Breaking Suffolk up would place such financial pressure on new councils that those small, discretionary local services we all value would be at risk from day one.
“To create a truly sustainable and effective council structure for Suffolk, one new council is not just the only viable option, but also the best one.”
