Interim monitoring officers recommended for East and West Surrey shadow councils

Details: 12.May.2026

Councillors in Surrey have recommended interim statutory officers – including monitoring offices – for the East and West Surrey shadow authorities ahead of completing local government reorganisation next year.

Surrey is on a fast-tracked timetable for local government reorganisation, with plans to launch two new authorities – East Surrey and West Surrey – in April 2027.

The county’s existing local authorities have been meeting on joint committees for East and West Surrey since January 2026 to help guide reorganisation.

At their final meetings held on Monday (11 May), the committees selected their nominations for interim chief executives, 151 officers and monitoring officers for the future authorities. The shadow authorities will then need to confirm the appointments at their first meetings on the 20th (East Surrey) and 21st May (West Surrey).

Susan Sale has been proposed as interim Monitoring Officer for the West Surrey shadow authority, while Daniel Bainbridge has been proposed as interim Monitoring Officer for East Surrey's shadow authority. Confirmation of their appointments needs to be

Sale is currently the Joint Strategic Director of Law, Democracy and People (Monitoring Officer) at Guildford Borough Council & Waverley Borough Council.

Bainbridge is the Head of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) at Elmbridge Borough Council.

The other statutory officer nominations are:

Andy Brown – who is Surrey County Council’s deputy chief executive and section 151 officer – has been recommended as interim Head of Paid Service for West Surrey.

Vicky Radford – the Director of Finance (s151 officer) at Surrey Heath Borough Council’s – has been recommended to take on the section 151 officer role at West Surrey.

Adam Chalmers is propsoed as interim Head of Paid Service for East Surrey, accompanied by Nikki O’Connor as Interim Chief Finance Officer (s151 officer).

Chalmers is currently Chief Executive of Elmbridge Borough Council, while O’Connor is Assistant Director of Finance (Corporate) at Surrey County Council.

The interim designations will remain in place until the appointment of substantive post holders, which must take place by December 2026.

Adam Carey