Purpose

The Government will seek the consent of the County Council and
the other upper tier councils in Sussex to the Statutory Instrument
by which the Authority will be established by
Parliament.  This will include the
functions to be discharged by the new authority and how it will
take decisions.
Since Cabinet’s previous decision in October 2025
(CAB06
(25/26)), the
Government has confirmed that devolution will happen in 2026,
but delayed mayoral elections until 2028, and made other
substantive changes to policy.
Cabinet is therefore asked to
reconfirm its consent to the Statutory Instrument, having
considered the changes announced by government in December
2025.

Decision

Following consideration of
the report the Cabinet resolved:

(1)    
That Cabinet notes the changes announced by the Minister to the
proposal to devolve to the Sussex & Brighton Combined County
Authority in the letter of 4 December 2025;

(2)    
That Cabinet reconfirm the approval of and consent to the
establishment of the Sussex and Brighton Combined County
Authority;

(3)    
That Cabinet delegates authority to the County Council’s
Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, to agree the
contents of, and consent to, the making of the Sussex and Brighton
Combined Authority Order 2026;

(4)    
That Cabinet delegates authority to the Chief Executive to take
such action as necessary to give effect to the above
recommendations and to facilitate the establishment of the
MCCA.
The call-in deadline is 12 February
2026.
Regulation 10: This decision is a key decision and should have
been included in the Forward Plan for the required 28 days. This
was not possible and the relevant Scrutiny Committee Chairman has
been advised of the proposed decision and notice has been given to
the public.
At the Cabinet meeting on 3
February, Cabinet consented to the laying of the Statutory
Instrument and published a proposed decision.  Following the meeting, the Ministry of Housing,
Communities & Local Government (MHCLG ) outlined that the
Statutory Instrument needed to be laid before the Cabinet decision
would clear call-in.  Not doing so would
prejudice the County Council’s interests.
Therefore due to the need for
this matter to be determined urgently, 
the Executive Director of Law, Assurance and Insight has secured
agreement from the Leader and the Chairman of the Performance and
Finance Scrutiny Committee for a decision
(CAB13 (25/26)) to be taken which will come into effect
immediately as per the County Council’s Constitution –
Part 4, Section 1, Standing Order 3.57 (Regulation 11).  This will supersede the decision taken on 3
February 2026.