Greens not in favour of proposed County Devolution Deal for Norfolk

A provisional County Deal was signed on 8/12/22 by Norfolk County Council and the government.  An amendment was made to Clause 16 of the deal, to defer or stop the transfer of District Council activities to the County Authority.  The deal was ratified on 17 January 2023 and a 6-week consultation began on 6 February.  If the deal is agreed, the first election for a directly-elected leader would be in May 2024. However, there is not universal support for the County Deal and even within the Conservative controlled councils there is disquiet among Conservative councillors. As your Green Party district councillors we are opposed to the Deal on several counts which include the following:

• The Norfolk County Deal is not the right type of devolution for Norfolk because the funding on offer, £20 million per year for 30 years, is not going to deliver the level of change that would be required from such a deal.
• To put the funding on offer into perspective, the County Council is having to make £60 million of cuts this year, much of it from Adult and Children's services.
• Enhanced housing and land acquisition powers are included in the Deal. Funding is earmarked for growth and development with an additional £5.9 million of capital funding in this Spending Review period to support the delivery of housing. We do not see continued growth with harmful large-scale housing developments at all sustainable. We would rather see the funding ring-fenced for a green transition of the economy.
• A directly elected leader cannot be held accountable in the way that a leader of a council can be held accountable by fellow councillors. It is an erosion of local democracy.
• Some of the funding provided will be for district council services but the county council will be able to determine how the funds are spent. This is the beginning of the erosion of the role of district councils.
• The government has said that “this agreement is the first step in a process of further devolution”. “Further powers may be agreed over time and included in future legislation”. This process is a slippery slope to even more central control through a single elected leader.
• The Greens, and others, have called for a referendum on the Deal but this has been refused which, again, undermines local democracy.