Frequently Asked Questions

The white paper recognised that two-tier government (ie where there are both county council and district councils delivering different services in any area) can be confusing, and lead to duplication and lack of clear strategic leadership. It therefore invited applications from councils to create new unitary councils (ie single councils delivering all local government services in an area).

In Norfolk only Norwich City Council decided to submit a proposal. Across the country 25 other bids were also prepared.

What did the Norwich City Council bids propose?
Norwich City Council submitted 2 bids to create a new unitary council for Norwich. The two Norwich City Council bids were:

• A ‘core’ bid for a unitary council on the current Norwich City Council boundary - click here for a map which shows the current Norwich City Council boundary, and the current built-up area,
• A supplementary proposal for a unitary council on a new ‘Greater Norwich’ boundary, which would take in all the designated growth for the city over the next 20 years.

What was the outcome of the Norwich City Council bids?
The government rejected the core bid (based on the current city council boundary) on the grounds that there were some doubts about whether it would be affordable and would be able to deliver value for money services.

However, ministers were impressed by the supplementary proposal for a greater Norwich council, and decided to ask the Boundary Committee to review local government structures and boundaries across the whole of Norfolk. This review has subsequently been extended to cover Suffolk too. A separate review of Devon is also proposed.

What boundary options are being proposed for local government across Norfolk?
The eight Norfolk councils have been working together to develop boundary proposals. Most of the options being worked up include a greater Norwich unitary, so we remain confident that our proposals will be successful.

To see more details of the greater Norwich proposals, including a map with our boundary proposals, please click here.

What is happening now?
The Boundary Committee has asked all Norfolk councils to develop full business cases to support their proposals by the end of March 2008. Work is now underway to meet this deadline.

Once proposals are submitted the Boundary Committee will consider them, and challenge them. There will be a three month consultation period as part of their review process.

For full details of the timetable, and links to key documents, please click here.

Won’t separating Norwich away from the rest of Norfolk have a damaging impact on Norfolk?
No. This is not about separation, but about creating a completely new local government map for Norfolk. All the councils created would be completely new, and would continue to work together for the benefit of local people.

Norwich would remain as the economic, social and environmental heart of Norfolk. 42% of the jobs in the county are located in the city, and over 350,000 people live in the ‘Travel to Work’ area around the city. A single council for Norwich will serve to boost the city’s economy, and the wider county (and eastern region) would then also benefit.

It is therefore a complementary relationship – the city needs Norfolk people, and Norfolk people need Norwich. Unitary status will not change that – indeed as the city grows to over 280,000 people over the next 20 years, the relationship will strengthen. It is vitally important that there is one council managing this huge growth in order to achieve a balance between economic growth and preserving the historic nature of the city and protecting the surrounding rural environment.

Won’t the change cost a lot and disrupt services?
The government white paper 'Strong and prosperous communities' requires change, so the status quo is not an option. Government has also said that the two-tier government (ie with a district council and county council both providing services in the same area, as we have across Norfolk), can be inefficient, lack accountability and lead to unclear leadership for an area.

Creating new unitary councils will incur some cost, but overall the new councils would generate much greater efficiencies. Because this is a chance to create a brand new council for Norwich, we have the opportunity to design in efficiencies, which will go on delivering over £3.5 million per year in savings. Over time, this means the new council would be more efficient, more effective and focussed on the needs of the city and its people. The costs of the bid will be formally scrutinised by the Treasury, so we have to get our sums right!

There will be some minor disruption to services, but the white paper requires change so some adjustments will be needed. However, the potential gains are significant: a new council will be a change for the better. Previous experience has shown that when councils work together on reorganisations like this, the impact on service users, partners and staff is minimised. A smooth transfer would be our top priority.

What happens if we don’t get unitary status for Norwich?
We will continue to work as we do now. However, the unitary process has given the city council the opportunity to set out clearly its ‘manifesto’ for the future of the whole city, and where we feel that key public services could be improved. We will use these ideas to work closely with partners such as Norfolk County Council, Broadland District Council, and South Norfolk Council, as well as with the police, health, and voluntary and community groups.

Furthermore, there are now an increasing number of partnerships in key service areas (eg housing, economic development, growth points, planning and so on), which are based on the ‘Greater Norwich’ area. We will therefore want to continue and develop these further so that we can work collectively to deliver a better future for the whole of Norwich.

What are the staffing implications?
These are very early days in the process. If a new council for Norwich were agreed there would be at least 18 months in which to design the new council and put it into place. The prime objective would be for a smooth transfer, so that no local people, service users and staff experience any difficulties.

Nevertheless, a new staffing structure would need to be agreed, in full consultation with staff and trade unions. The vast majority of the staff would automatically transfer to the new council on their current terms and conditions. The new structure would mean some changes in roles and responsibilities, but these would be a minority of cases, and most likely to affect senior management positions. There will be a dedicated human resource team to manage the whole process, and handle individual cases, as well as regular communication with staff and trade unions.

If Norwich gets unitary status, could it ever change back?
This is very unlikely. There would have to be clear benefits for any such reversal of change. None of the unitary councils created in the last 30 years has reverted back to two-tier status.

What would happen to council accommodation and assets?
All accommodation and assets that are used to deliver local government services in Norwich would transfer to the new unitary council. This would give the new council the chance to review the whole property and asset portfolio, and to decide where best to locate staff and services. For example, it might want to locate some services more within city neighbourhoods (eg schools, housing area offices etc), and/ or to co-locate some complementary services (eg regulatory services, housing, adult social care, and so on). It is fairly clear that the new council would need to retain a significant city centre presence, and there are no plans to dispose of City Hall.

Details of the accommodation strategy for the new council would need to be drawn up as part of the design and implementation of the new council.

What will happen to existing service delivery contracts?
The new council will need to review all of these and decide what it wants to do with them. It may be possible to renegotiate some, or it may be necessary to allow them to continue until they expire before setting up new arrangements. Once again, the objective would be to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.

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