What is happening with devolution in Norfolk?

Plans for the most dramatic shake-up of local government in decades will move forward this week. But in Norfolk, the county council is at odds with the smaller local authorities. The BBC looks at what is being proposed and what the options are.

The various councils have until Friday to submit their proposals for how they want local government to look.

All existing councils would be scrapped.

Most of the seven district councils are expected to say they think the solution is to have three authorities covering Norfolk.

But the county council appears to favour the option of just one large governing body responsible for the entire county.

Currently Norfolk is run by eight councils – Norfolk County Council and the seven, smaller district, city or borough councils – covering Breckland, Broadland, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, North Norfolk, Norwich and South Norfolk.

Known as an "upper-tier" authority, Norfolk County Council is responsible for services including adult and children's social care, library services and roads.

The others' responsibilities include refuse collection, leisure facilities, parks, environmental health, licensing and planning.

The Labour administration has said it wants the existing councils to fold and be replaced with what are known as unitary authorities – which would represent populations of about 500,000 people.

These bodies would have full responsibility for the areas they cover, although they would be overseen by a mayor covering Norfolk and Suffolk.

The idea is that having fewer councils will be cheaper and more efficient, whilst the mayoral authority will receive extra funding to spend on things like education and housing.

Similar shake-ups are taking place in other parts of England, including Suffolk and Essex.

Local elections have been postponed so reorganisations can take place.

This has proved controversial with some people, but there is a precedent

Elections in Cumbria, Somerset and North Yorkshire were postponed in 2021 after proposals were submitted to create unitary authorities.

Conservative leader Kay Mason Billig – who has said the task ahead is "mammoth" - has not publicly said what her preference is.

A report for the county council admits that two councils covering Norfolk would have some benefits - but it appears to favour the option of a single all-encompassing authority.

It argues that could save £29m a year, improve efficiency and avoid the duplication of high paying jobs, such as chief executive or director of adult social care.

But being responsible for Norfolk's population of 917,000 would put it well above the government's size target.

The other councils commissioned their own report, which said the best option was for Norfolk to be run by three unitary authorities.

It suggests one would cover the current Great Yarmouth, Broadland and South Norfolk areas – along with most of north Norfolk.

Another would have the remainder of north Norfolk – as well as Breckland and King's Lynn, and west Norfolk.

The other area would be what is currently Norwich, with the possibility of its boundaries being expanded.

Whilst it admits that would be more expensive, the report argues that it will provide a more local form of government for local people.

However, each area's population would be well below the government's aim of about 500,000.

Six of the seven district councils are expected to back this idea.

"Creating three unitaries will ensure that the size of the authority will remain close enough to communities to deliver a better understanding of local demand," said Broadland's Liberal Democrat leader Sue Holland.

Daniel Elmer, South Norfolk's Conservative leader, said he preferred an option which would see two authorities created: one for what is currently the council areas of Norwich, Broadland, Great Yarmouth and South Norfolk and the other covering the rest of the county.

"[This] model achieves the right balance between delivering cost effective public services while at the same time protecting the identities of our local communities and local economy," he explained.

All of the councils are due to hold their own meetings in the next few days to formally agree on their stance.

They have to submit their initial proposals to the government by Friday.

Final plans will need to be submitted in September.

Concerns have been raised about the speed of such a major reorganisation.

Breckland's Conservative leader Sam Chapman-Allen - who is also chairman of the national District Councils Network - said he felt the process was being "rushed".

He warned against changes being made without proper thought: "We have to put residents and the needs of our communities at the heart of our decision making".

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