Require West Surrey Unitary Council consult residents before changing its name

Background

We call on the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to refuse any request to change the name of the future West Surrey Council unless the Council has first carried out a full public consultation across the whole authority and reported the results publicly.

Additional details

The Shadow West Surrey Council has voted to ask the Government to rename the authority “West Surrey and South Middlesex Council”, despite no authority-wide public consultation taking place beforehand. An amendment calling for residents to be consulted before any request was made was rejected. The council exists to represent every part of West Surrey equally. Any proposal should only be considered after residents across the entire authority have had the opportunity to express their views.