Crawley Borough Council and West Sussex County Council are among 30 local authorities who are working to arrange local elections in May after they were reinstated by the government. 

Both Councils had requested to defer the elections for another year.  The government sought their views on whether elections should proceed in preparation for local government reorganisation into fewer unitary authorities.  The decision to go ahead with the elections follows a legal challenge from Reform UK against the postponement.

But is there a general lack of interest in voting in local elections?  Stephen Pritchard, Labour councillor for Three Bridges Ward, responded to that question on the Sussex and Surrey Soapbox podcast: 

Meanwhile in Surrey, local elections were already scheduled to take place on 7th May; these will elect councillors to form a shadow authority to plan for the new East Surrey and West Surrey Councils.  They will work alongside the existing councils until April 2027 when all 12 legacy councils in Surrey will be dissolved. 

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council has approved its balanced budget for 2026/27.

As part of the budget, the council has decided to freeze their portion of Council Tax.

Before finalising the budget, there was an eight-week public consultation on the draft budget proposals; 74% of residents welcomed the proposal to freeze their share of Council Tax.

Two Crawley sisters have been ordered to pay back nearly £220,000 after stealing items from duty free at Gatwick Airport.

Laura and Georgina Epitropou, both from Crawley, were each jailed for two and a half years after being sentenced in September 2024.

The Epitropous were arrested boarding a flight from Belfast to Gatwick carrying £2,000 in stolen items in their suitcase.

The Crown Prosecution Service said bank records revealed the sisters had made £40,000 in 10 months.