Shake-up could see district councils in Norfolk abolished

Labour ministers are understood to be keen to combine transferring powers from Whitehall with a fresh attempt at local government reorganisation.

And that could see the current two-tier system in Norfolk and Suffolk, of county councils and the city, borough and district authorities, abolished and replaced with at least two - or potentially more - unitary councils.

The Labour government has said no decisions have yet been made, but it is understood that local government minister Jim McMahon has held talks with leaders in the two counties.

Jim McMahon (Image: PA)

It comes after the government pulled the plug on devolution deals the previous government had offered to Norfolk and Suffolk.

The Norfolk deal would have included an investment fund of £20m a year for 30 years, control of the £12m budget for adult education, and £7m to kickstart housing on brownfield sites.

The new government scrapped that deal, which would have featured a directly-elected county council leader, saying it preferred a mayoral model separate from the council.

Kay Mason Billig (Image: Norfolk County Council)

Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council said in September the government "has dismissed us as if we were nobodies".

But there have been further talks and a paper had been due to go before next weeks' Conservative-controlled cabinet about how the council could pursue what is known as a level 2 deal.

That would have been a watered down version of what had been offered, with no directly-elected leader or long-term investment fund.

However, the paper been pulled from the cabinet, with the government saying a new white paper on English devolution is due to be published within weeks.

It is understood that will open up the possibility of a Norfolk and Suffolk mayor and local government reorganisation.

County councils are due to take place next year. It is not clear whether they would be affected by any proposed shake-up.

Previous attempts at local government reorganisation and the creation of a cross-border mayor caused deep divisions within local government in the two counties.

In 2016, the government offered Norfolk and Suffolk a deal which would have seen powers devolved to local councils, bringing in £750m of new funding for infrastructure and £130m for new homes.

But the government insisted the two counties must have a single elected mayor - which led to Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Breckland and North Norfolk councils withdrawing from the process.

Other councils voted against it and the deal was taken off the table.

That followed a previous, bitter dispute over a switch away from the current two tiers of local government to a single tier unitary authority.

In 2009, the Boundary Committee recommended a single unitary authority covering all of Norfolk - which would have seen district and borough councils disappear.

Supporters said it would save money but critics questioned that and said it would take decision making away from communities.

Norfolk County Council made a play to become a unitary authority, as did Norwich City Council.

And it was announced that Norwich would become a unitary authority.

But at the 11th hour, shortly after the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government in 2010, local government secretary Eric Pickles took steps to reverse that decision, so it never happened.

The current two-tier system, which means Norfolk has Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Broadland District Council, South Norfolk Council, Breckland District Council, North Norfolk District Council and West Norfolk Council, was introduced in 1974.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "No decisions have been taken on council reorganisation. Our priority is to focus on the transfer of power from Westminster and work with councils to create structures that make sense for their local areas and work effectively for local people.

"We will set out further details in the upcoming English devolution white paper."