Bad for services
The size and rurality of the county pose significant challenges to the County Council for transport and service delivery.
Corporate Peer Review, visit to Norfolk County Council, Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, May 2007
The proposals for large unitary authorities in Norfolk are bad for local services. Decision-making will become remote and services will be taken further away from the people who rely on them.
There will be severe service disruption and local services will be reduced. For example, West Norfolk will lose its weekly bin service.
Services will not be tailored to local needs or delivered locally. Local initiatives will inevitably come under threat. Voluntary sector funding will face stringent cuts. All this in a county with more people aged over 60 than any other age group, where 20% of the local population is aged over 65 and 10% is aged over 75. All these people have a very special need of local services.
Crucially, there is an alternative... improved two-tier working with all the councils in Norfolk working together to improve services.
