How Local Government Works

Pulborough works through a three‑tier local government system — Parish, District, and County—each handling different parts of daily life. Understanding who does what makes it much easier for you to know where decisions are made, how money flows, and who is accountable for which services.

Pulborough Parish Council (the local tier) https://pulboroughparishcouncil.gov.uk/

Pulborough Parish Council is the most immediate layer of government. It looks after the village’s public spaces, comments on planning, and represents residents’ views upward. 

• Manages community assets such as children’s play areas, recreational fields, sports facilities, green spaces, allotments and bus shelters.
• Reviews planning applications and contributes to the Neighbourhood Plan.
• Oversees Neighbourhood Wardens and community engagement initiatives.
• Raises a precept (part of council tax) to fund local services.
• Operates through 15 councillors, a Clerk and a Deputy Clerk, with published agendas, minutes, and policies.
• This tier is where residents can most easily influence decisions—meetings are open, and councillors are local. Check online or see local noticeboards for details of meetings and copies of minutes to find out what’s happening in your parish.

Horsham District Council (the district tier) https://www.horsham.gov.uk/

Horsham District Council covers a much wider area, including Pulborough. It handles services that are too large for a parish council but still local in nature.

• Planning decisions and development control.
• Waste and recycling collections.
• Environmental health, licensing, and housing services.
• Leisure centres, parks, and economic development.
• Pulborough Parish Council feeds into many of these decisions but does not control them. It has two district councillors sitting as parish council members

West Sussex County Council (the county tier) https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/

West Sussex County Council is responsible for the big, strategic services that affect the whole county.

• Roads, pavements, and highways.
• Schools and education.
• Social care for adults and children.
• Libraries, fire and rescue, and public health.
• Major transport and infrastructure planning.
• These are high‑budget, long‑term services delivered at scale

How the pieces fit together

Pulborough’s governance works because each tier handles a different scale of responsibility:

Parish = hyper‑local spaces, community voice, and village‑level improvements.

District = services that need professional teams and regulatory powers.

County = large systems requiring major budgets and specialist expertise.

Residents often interact with all three without realising it—for example, a pothole (county), a planning application (district), and a broken piece of playground equipment (parish) all sit with different authorities.

What does Local Government Reorganisation mean for Sussex?

Sussex is undergoing a major local government reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to unitary authorities and establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority (MCCA) with elections for a directly elected mayor in 2028.

Overview of Changes

The UK Government is implementing devolution and local government reorganisation in Sussex to streamline governance, improve service delivery, and give local areas more control over strategic decisions. The key elements include:

• West Sussex County Council
• Mayoral Combined County Authority (MCCA): A new strategic authority covering East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton & Hove, led by a directly elected mayor. The MCCA will oversee transport, housing, economic growth, climate and environment, public health, and safety.
• Unitary Authorities: The current two-tier system of county and district/borough councils will be replaced by single-tier councils responsible for all local services, including social care, waste collection, housing, and planning.

Proposed Models

Several proposals have been submitted by councils:

East Sussex: Two unitary councils proposed—one covering Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother, and Wealden; Brighton & Hove to remain unchanged. Brighton & Hove City Council proposed five unitary councils across Sussex.

West Sussex: West Sussex County Council proposed a single unitary authority for the entire county. District councils suggested two unitary authorities: one for Adur, Arun, Chichester, and Worthing, and another for Crawley, Horsham, and Mid Sussex.

The government will decide the final structure, with a Structural Change Order sent to Parliament for approval.

Implications for Residents

Day-to-day services will continue uninterrupted until the new unitary authorities are operational.

Strategic decisions on housing, transport, and economic development will shift to the MCCA under the mayor.

Town and parish councils will remain in place, with potential new town councils in some areas to maintain local identity.

This reorganisation represents the most significant structural change to local government in Sussex since the 1970s.

For more information – West Sussex County Council

Latest details: Government makes announcement on future of local government in West Sussex

Information for East Sussex