Cllr Ying Perrett

14/10/2026

Just to update everyone about the West Surrey HQ decisions so far. Please stay tuned for further updates.

WEST SURREY INITIAL HQ DECISIONS 🏛️

Good afternoon everyone.

The Executive of West Surrey met this morning in public to determine a number of items, but the most important of those from a public and staff position is that of the Day 1 HQ.

Today we determined that: ⤵️

1️⃣ Millmead (Guildford) will be the Civic HQ and is where Full Council will continue to be held.

2️⃣ Woking Civic Centre + Victoria Gate will jointly serve as an Organisation HQ (our main staff base).

3️⃣ We will be starting the process to determine a future permanent HQ. This is part of wider task of looking at all the land and property the new West Surrey will own as well as our staff working patterns and other important factors.

This will also include the location of some of the larger departments of the new council.

4️⃣ We will be looking at maintaining local access for residents across West Surrey through our Localism policy over the next few months.

Very happy to take any questions.

Cllr Paul Follows
Leader, West Surrey Council

03/10/2026

2026 09 30 Subbing at External Partnership committee meeting where Cllr Dave Hough was chairing for the first time and he did a stellar job!! Our MP, Dr Al Pinkerton attended to share. Overall a great meeting.

29/09/2026

I believe many of you are a bit curious as to who will be the West Surrey Chief. As Vice Chair of Employment for the shadow authority, I daresay it has been quite a stressful time for all involved to appoint the right person for the job.

We look forward to working closely with Susan in the near future, when she comes on board officially.
👏👏👏👏👏👏

Susan Halliwell, currently Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Council, has been appointed Chief Executive of the new West Surrey Council

29/09/2026

Online queries open for Camberley East residents. Cllr Jaime Calder and I are here to help.

18/09/2026

For those who are curious about how the current resistance against LGR will affect Surrey. https://www.facebook.com/share/1H5o67676P/

🏛️ STATUS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION IN SURREY

Good morning everyone. I have received a number of emails and messages on this subject over the last week and so have many of my colleagues.

❗️Short version: LGR in Surrey is NOT cancelled or paused and there is no serious legal basis to challenge this.

For the longer version:

ℹ️ On 7th September the government ‘paused’ the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process for those currently going through it but with the very clear exception of Surrey.

The following points were made by the Secretary of State at the time and have been confirmed subsequently through other updates:

1️⃣ LGR in Surrey is NOT cancelled or paused and West and East Surrey will continue to be created on 1st April 2027 (all Surrey boroughs/districts and Surrey County Council will be dissolved).

2️⃣ Unlike anywhere else, and at the specific request of Surrey County Council, we ended up on the ‘Fast Track’ version of the process and that means that legislation has already been passed by Parliament enacting this in Surrey.

3️⃣ Elections have already taken place.

❇️ What that means is there is no legal route for anyone to change or challenge the process in Surrey.

Unlike other areas that have challenged this earlier in the process, Surrey County Council has always been in favour of the changes and so there was never any unified legal position in Surrey to meaningfully oppose this in court (despite opposition of almost all the boroughs).

🏛️ I have also been asked if I will now seek legal action.

No. I will simply not waste public money on an absolutely hopeless legal cause and will not take staff away from the crucial job of getting everything sorted for 1st April - an absolutely mammoth task in the short time we have.

As per my post last week, I have requested the legal advice that informed their recent decisions to understand and fix any issues that they believe exist:

➡️ https://www.facebook.com/share/1BrEi19M6W/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🔶 It therefore remains the duty of me and my colleagues to put all our effort into making this work for the residents of the new West Surrey and that is exactly what you elected us to do!

Happy to take any questions.

Cllr Paul Follows
Leader, West Surrey Council

14/09/2026

14/09/2026

Attention: new waste specialists procured

We are delighted to announce that Veolia has been awarded the joint recycling and waste collection contract for Elmbridge, Mole Valley, Surrey Heath and Woking. Veolia will also provide street cleaning services in three of the areas – Elmbridge, Mole Valley and Surrey Heath, with Woking Council continuing to provide their own contractor for street cleaning for residents living in the borough. Veolia will start operating the contract in June 2027 Elmbridge BC More to Mole Valley Surrey Heath

14/09/2026

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR WEST SURREY APPOINTED

❇️ I am pleased to announced that we have taken a big step forward in the formation of the new West Surrey Council.

We have tonight appointed our permanent Chief Executive Officer.

➡️ Susan Halliwell, currently Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Unitary Council has been appointed.

Susan brings more than 20 years of local government experience. She is also the current Lead Chief Executive of South East Strategic Leaders. Cultural change, financial stewardship and positive intervention on SEND and Children’s Services has been a hallmark of her work to date and will be crucial going forward.

🗳️ The appointment has been approved unanimously tonight by our full council and by representatives of all parties on the council.

✅ As an appointee from outside of any of the Surrey councils, she is perfectly placed to bring a fresh perspective on the serious matters that have plagued Surrey in the past and supports my genuine desire for a fresh start moving forward and to be a council that is greater than the sum of its parts.

We are now able to rapidly start the recruitment of the next layers of the organisation.

ℹ️ West Surrey replaces the boroughs of Waverley, Guildford, Woking, Surrey Heath, Runnymede, Spelthorne and Surrey County Council on April 1st 2027.

Please do let me know if you have any questions.

Cllr Paul Follows
Leader of West Surrey

14/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HYUvCG7ZX/