10/03/2025: Breckland Councillors to debate the Government's proposals for reorganisation of local councils

Members of Breckland Council, along with Councillors from across Norfolk's other local authorities, are set to debate the most significant changes to how residents' services are to be delivered for over 50 years.

A joint report, published today (Monday, 10 March), is due to be debated by each of Norfolk's seven district, city, and borough councils over the next fortnight. The report has been produced in response to the current Government's instruction that district and county councils are to be abolished and Local Government "reorganised", which will affect the way services are delivered.

The document draws together evidence and analysis of various options conducted by independent, external experts, to provide a detailed analysis of the various issues, challenges and opportunities that reorganising local services presents.

These include:

• The importance of local place identity, and keeping local services local
• The opportunities for service delivery by better joining work together, and focusing on prevention and early intervention
• The independently assessed "best" way forward for Norfolk, based on three new unitary councils replacing the existing seven district council and county council
• The risks of a large "single" unitary council in Norfolk, particularly around its remoteness and risks to service delivery  

Breckland Council members are due to debate the paper at a Special Council meeting to be held on 20 March.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Breckland Council Leader, Sam Chapman-Allen, said: "I have very mixed emotions about the task in front of us. On the one hand, I still have fundamental concerns about the implications of the Government's policy on reorganisation. It's rushed, built on weak foundations, and presents a very real threat of increased council tax for Breckland's residents. Speaking with areas who have been through the same recently, I see precious little evidence that the Government has learnt from the myriad of recent mistakes.

"As someone who cares deeply about services residents receive and value for money, it has been depressing to see some of the commentary over the last few days. There seems to have been a rush from some councils to respond to this issue by looking for the biggest cuts and most redundancies, based on very little evidence of their achievability. It can't be in anyone's interest for Local Government to treat this as a race to the bottom; we have to put residents and the needs of our communities at the heart of our decision making.

"In that spirit, the one silver lining here is the opportunity for us to continue to look at how we can make services better for people and how we can keep services as close as possible to residents. I am pleased that we have started - in partnership - to define how that could look and feel locally, and I hope Councillors support a positive vision for the future." 

Cllr Bill Borrett, Breckland's Cabinet Member for Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation, added:

"Breckland already delivers great value for money with Norfolk's lowest Council Tax and there is a very real prospect of it being increased under the Government's plans. It seems incredible to me that in the space of a few short months we've gone from carefully weighing up the benefits of a "deal" for Norfolk, which promised £20m of new money every year, to some councils proposing an imposition which cuts nearly double that and still won't deliver a reduced Council Tax for Breckland's residents."

The report set to be reviewed and discussed by Breckland Councillors on 20 March can be seen on the Breckland website. (opens new window)