Local Government Reorganisation and devolution

Devolution

Devolution is the process where some powers of decision making and funding are transferred from Central Government to a local area (Norfolk in our case). This is so decisions around how money is invested can be based on local knowledge and made by people who understand local needs best.

TheEnglish Devolution White Paper (opens new window), published in December 2024, outlines the UK Government's plans to extend devolution across England.

For Norfolk, this will see a Mayor elected to lead both Norfolk and Suffolk. The Mayor would be responsible for a range of areas, including economic growth, housing delivery, strategic planning, transport, skills and the ability to set a council tax precept.

Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils submitted an application in January 2025 to be part of the priority programme, so we would have a Mayor in place sooner than other places in the country, which was agreed by the Government.

We currently expect a Mayor to take up their role in the next few years.

Local Government Reorganisation

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) represents the biggest shake-up in local government for 50 years and seeks to replace the two-tier system of local government that exists in Norfolk, with a smaller number of 'unitary' councils, that would be responsible for delivering all local services in an area.

Three Unitary Model Confirmed

In March 2026, the Government confirmed that it wishes to proceed with a three unitary model for Norfolk. This means that, from April 2028, the current county, district, city, and borough councils will be replaced with three new unitary authorities - East Norfolk, West Norfolk, and Greater Norwich.

What this means

• A 'West Norfolk' unitary established that will cover the existing Breckland and King's Lynn & West Norfolk areas, as well as two wards from South Norfolk (Hingham & Deopham and Wicklewood)
• A 'Greater Norwich' unitary created, with an extension to the city boundaries which will include a selection of parishes from the current Broadland and South Norfolk areas.
• An 'East Norfolk' unitary established, containing the entirety of the current North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth areas, as well as areas from Broadland and South Norfolk.
• The three new councils will deliver the full range of local government services in their respective areas, once they 'go live' in April 2028.
• Existing councils, such as Breckland, will continue to provide services during a transition period, prior to April 2028.

Breckland Council supported the '3 unitary' model. This is because we believe it best represents local identity, unlocks the full potential of the three areas, which respecting their distinctly different economies, communities and needs.

The three model includes:

• Three local authorities which are of significant size and scale.
• Three authorities whose communities are different, with distinct needs best served by bespoke local public services
• Three authorities which reflect the differences across our county - from city to coast to countryside.
• Three authorities which have economic opportunities which, alongside our partners, can unlock new homes, new skills and new jobs for local people.
• Three authorities which are financially sustainable, safe and legal, with real opportunities to drive efficiencies, savings and local benefit.
• Three local authorities which move into annual surplus from year 4, following some transition costs which initially outweigh savings.

You can read more about this on our dedicated FutureNorfolk website.

Next steps

• A programme of implementation will begin to prepare for the transition to the new unitaries.
• Shadow elections to the new unitaries to take place May 2027
• New authorities 'go live' and take over from existing councils in April 2028