Working at the scale of Sussex

Sussex & Brighton was established in 2026 for the areas covered by East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council.

Together, those three organisations are our Constituent Councils.

The Strategic Authority works at a different scale.

Its role is to provide strategic leadership, bring organisations together and coordinate powers, investment and decisions where they can be more effective when considered across Sussex.

We exist to bring together the people, evidence, funding, powers and partnerships needed to address opportunities and challenges that extend beyond individual organisational boundaries.

Bringing Sussex together

Our role depends on partnership.

Sussex & Brighton works alongside the Constituent Councils and with businesses, employers, investors, education and skills providers, community and civic organisations, Government, funders and delivery partners.

The Strategic Authority provides a place where those perspectives can come together around shared strategic priorities. It is about providing leadership and coordination on the issues where collaboration across Sussex can add value.

Our strategic priorities

The Strategic Authority's current priority areas span:

• transport and local infrastructure

• skills and employment support

• housing and strategic planning

• economic development and regeneration

• environment

• health, wellbeing and public service reform

• public safety

• culture

• rural and coastal communities.

These priorities reflect an Authority intended to operate across traditional organisational boundaries and consider how decisions in one part of the system affect another.

Investment and prosperity

Sussex & Brighton has ambitious plans for the region, underpinned by its Prosperity Strategy and a growing investment capability.

We are building the ability to bring together funding, investment, evidence and partners around our strategic priorities, making the most of the resources available to us while attracting new funding and unlocking wider investment.

For those joining us now, the opportunity is to help turn that strategic ambition into delivery, building the organisation, capability and relationships that will help create lasting impact for Sussex.

Building towards mayoral governance

Sussex & Brighton is currently Board-led.

The first mayoral election is scheduled for 4 May 2028, with the first Mayor's term due to begin on 8 May 2028.

That makes the establishment period particularly important.

The Strategic Authority needs an organisational identity, culture, governance and capability that work now, while also being able to support a more visible mayoral model in the future.

For our new senior leaders, that creates the opportunity to help build the organisation before leading it through its next stage.