Norfolk devolution deal moves step closer after council vote

Norfolk County Councillors voted to take the next step towards devolution

Norfolk County Councillors have voted to back a devolution deal the council says will give people more control over local issues.

The Conservative administration says the plan will mean greater control over building, transport and skills training, and £20m extra per year for local projects.

It would also mean the public get to vote for a directly elected leader.

Labour opposition councillors claim the plan is a distraction.

The County Deal for Norfolk - which will cover the next 30 years - was voted for by councillors on Tuesday.

Council leader Kay Mason Billig said the deal would bring "major benefits"

Council leader Kay Mason Billig said: "If we don't take this step, I don't believe the people of Norfolk will forgive us.

"We will be put at the back of the queue for further funding and will be left in the wilderness by Westminster."

Under the deal signed last year - announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement - Whitehall departments in London would hand over more control of transport projects, brownfield site regeneration and adult education to Norfolk County Council.

Critics say not enough powers are being devolved and that the £20m funding is not linked to inflation, so will be worth less over the years.

There would be no mayor under the latest plans, but instead a council leader voted for by the electorate in Norfolk, rather than the current system which sees councillors select who leads the local authority.

Delay

The government had wanted the deal to be in place by May 2024, but the council's cabinet wants to delay this until 2025 to give it longer to prepare.

Labour says the delay is an attempt to "kick the can down the road" because the deal does not provide as many benefits as first hoped when devolution was talked about eight years ago.

Group leader Steve Morphew said: "I am passionately in favour of devolution, but not this kind.

"If the Conservatives were so confident about this deal they would grab it by both hands now and claim the benefits, not wait until 2025.

"This has become a distraction when the council should be focusing on other more serious issues facing the county."

A large majority of councillors voted to back the deal

An earlier attempt to get devolution for Norfolk failed in 2016, following a bitter row over a proposed elected mayor, and the prospect of taking powers away from district and borough councils.

In today's vote, 56 councillors voted in favour of the deal, with 14 against and one abstaining.

The Liberal Democrats' Brian Watkins, who leads the main opposition group, said there were "serious misgivings" but backed the plan saying "it should be left on the table for now".

The vote means the council will continue preparation for the devolution deal, which would mean the election for the new directly-elected leader taking place alongside county council elections in May 2025.