South East Essex will be a unitary authority area in Essex, England. Scheduled to be created in April 2028 as part of an ongoing local government reorganisation, it will be formed from the existing districts of Castle Point and Rochford and Southend-on-Sea. The first councillors to South East Essex Council will be elected at the 2027 South East Essex Council election in May 2027. The largest settlement in the district is the city of Southend-on-Sea.
In February 2025, Essex was accepted into the Devolution Priority Programme. Tied to this, councils were invited to submit proposals for the reorganisation of local government districts by September 2025. The government held statutory consultations from November 2025 to January 2026 and made a decision in March 2026. In South East Essex, it was decided to create a new unitary authority district by combining Castle Point, Rochford and Southend-on-Sea.
The largest settlement in the district will be Southend-on-Sea. The Office for National Statistics mid-2023 population estimate of the district is 360,317.
Much of the district, including Benfleet and Southend, is unparished. The rest of the area is made of civil parishes:
The local authority will be South East Essex Council. The first councillors will be elected at the 2027 South East Essex Council election.