Local government reorganisation

The Government has called for local government reorganisation in Norfolk and other areas. County and district councils will be replaced by new unitary authorities, which run all services.

Read more information in the February 2025 letter from Local Government Minister Jim McMahon.

One council for Norfolk

The council published a draft options appraisal on 9 June 2025 which proposed a single unitary council for Norfolk as the most effective option, for residents and for services. The headlines are:

• Having one council would save £36.2m per year and repay start-up costs within a year
• It would join up services and avoid disruption, risks and costs caused by splitting up county-wide services
• If there was more than one council, the authority covering the west of Norfolk could be financially unviable from the start

You can read the full report in the 18 Jun 2025 meeting details and a news summary at www.norfolk.gov.uk/news.

Latest News

• One council for Norfolk is best for residents and services, report says
• Help shape the future of Norfolk's council services
• Plan highlighting potential benefits of fewer councils sent to Government
• New council system could save millions of pounds

The story so far:

• On 16 December 2024, the Government published its devolution white paper and announced a priority programme for areas interested in devolution and local government reform. The Government wants to replace county and district councils in two-tier areas like Norfolk with unitary authorities, which run all services.
• On 9 January 2025, Norfolk's full council discussed and then the cabinet agreed to submit an application to be part of the priority programme. Read more about the 9 January meeting.
• On 4 March 2025 the county council's draft interim submission report was published ahead of consideration by the council's Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on 12 March. New council system could save millions of pounds.
• On 17 March, cabinet approved the interim plan for submission to the Government. Read the interim plan (PDF, 883 KB)
• On 7 May 2025, the Government gave its feedback on the interim submissions from the county and district councils. Read the feedback letter. (PDF, 279 KB)
• On 9 June 2025, the council published its draft options appraisal and proposed preferred model in a report to the strategic and corporate select committee. You can read the full report in the 18 Jun 2025 meeting details. Cabinet will consider the report and agree a preferred option on 23 June, 2025, ahead of final submission to the Government by 26 September, 2025