South Middlesex council name change not approved

The government has written to a new unitary council to say that it will not amend parliamentary legislation to change its name to include "South Middlesex".

A letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the new West Surrey authority "may wish to take legal advice" about whether it would be able to change its name "of its own accord".

The authority's Liberal Democrat leader Paul Follows, said it was a "disappointing response" and the council had "begun exploring our legal options".

A spokesperson for MHCLG said the council had "the power to change its own name to include Middlesex if it chooses to do so".

In July, a motion to have the name West Surrey and South Middlesex Council was voted through by the West Surrey Shadow Authority, as a way of recognising the historic identity of the borough of Spelthorne.

A campaign, which had support from TV astrologer Russell Grant, had called for Middlesex to be in the title of the new council.

West Surrey is one of two new unitary authorities which will formally start operating on 1 April 2027, as part of local government reorganisation, which will see the existing councils in Surrey abolished and areas merged.

In the letter, Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said he did "not consider amending" legislation already agreed in parliament for the reorganisation to go ahead "to be an appropriate route" to change the name.

He added that the council "may wish to take legal advice on the scope of any power under the Local Government Act 1972 to change its name of its own accord".

"Similarly, West Surrey Council may wish to take legal advice on branding and other operational issues where it may well be possible to use a more widely accepted name without the formal legal change being required," he added.

At a meeting of the West Surrey executive committee, Follows said a letter had been received "in regards to the request to change the name".

"That request to change the name - in the way that we were suggesting - has been refused and we will be progressing as West Surrey," he said.

In a statement to BBC Radio Surrey, Follows added it was "a disappointing response from the minister and especially for our community in South Middlesex".

The West Surrey Conservative group, which had opposed the proposal, said the government's response raised "important questions about the process followed by the Lib Dem administration".

Spelthorne, including Staines-upon-Thames, Shepperton and Sunbury, used to be part of Middlesex until 1965, when the administrative county council was abolished as part of local government reforms.

A MHCLG spokesperson said: "West Surrey Council has the power to change its own name to include Middlesex if it chooses to do so, and we've set this out in a letter to them."

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