Cllr Kay Mason Billig is the Leader of Norfolk County Council.
This time last year I did not expect to be the leader of the fifth largest county council in England. Nor did I entirely appreciate the sheer volume of work that was waiting for me. During 2023 we had to take a multitude of twists and turns on our journey towards devolution. Like others, for 2024, we are facing hard choices in our attempts to balance our books, battling against an unprecedented increase in demand for our services and the effects of inflation.
In December 2022, Norfolk signed an in-principle County Deal on devolution at Level 3, this was in line with the 10 devolved areas that had gone before us and now have elected Mayors. Norfolk, of course, decided to ‘do different’ and not call our directly elected leader a mayor (it’s a perception thing). So, we will have a Directly Elected Leader (DEL) instead.
One of my first tasks, after being made leader last May, was to try to improve the devolution offer on the table and also to dispel some of the myths that had been circulating about what a County Deal for Norfolk actually meant.
Worries existed about whether this new DEL was going to be omnipotent and be able to do exactly what they liked, regardless of what the rest of the Councillors wanted. The answer is no, they have no more power than I do currently, i.e. they still need a majority in the council chamber to get their budget through, they still need to have a Cabinet to support them and so on. The only real difference is that they are elected by the people, not their fellow councillors and they are leaders for a four-year term, so they cannot be replaced until the following election.
Why did we have to have someone elected for a four-year term? The Prime Minister can be replaced by their party colleagues, so why not our council leader? We were told categorically by the Government that we could not have devolution at Level 3 without a DEL, which made many councillors want to reject the Deal, no matter what other benefits came as part of the package. Many thought this was unreasonable, and this is understandable, you never know who is going to stand and be elected and what if they were of a different political colour to the majority at the council? How would that work? But the Government was determined that they wanted someone with a mandate from the people and stability in that person being around to exercise the devolved powers.
What benefits do we gain? Our Deal includes £20 million per annum for 30 years for economic development. We spend about £12.5 million mainly through the funding from the Local Enterprise Partnership, but that funding will cease next year when the LEP is wound up. It’s a basic choice of take a County Deal or the real possibility of no more economic development money!
We also get the Adult Education budget of £12 million handed to us to administer. Currently, this money is handed out from central government to who knows what providers! Apparently, we are not told how it is spent in our County today, as it’s not our business! With a Deal, we can choose where to spend it and can tailor it to the needs of our population. We will also get nearly £7 million for brownfield redevelopment. We are hopeful that we will get a similar amount every year. On top of this, we have managed to negotiate some one-off funding for various schemes from roundabouts to community centres, and we can delay our DEL election to 2025, to be coterminous with the County Council elections.
So, the question our councillors had to answer was: are the benefits of this Deal worth the risk of having a leader we cannot remove for four years?
There are things that can be put in place to mitigate the risks. We can change our constitution, introducing a policy framework which the DEL must operate within, and which cannot be changed without a 2/3 majority at council. We are required to put in place advisory boards which will consist of representatives from District Councils, businesses, and education establishments.
Understandably, our district council colleagues were nervous, because they have no automatic rights under our Deal in how and where the money a DEL receives is spent. But if we look at this wearing our sensible hats, we can see that a DEL would find it almost impossible to function without an effective Cabinet around them, the job is just too big. They also NEED District councils on board, to spend the money handed down from central government. They may be unable to be removed from office for four years, but they will find it difficult to function without the will of the majority of county and district councillors backing them. So, for the opportunity to sit at the table with the other ten devolved areas and share the largess that is regularly doled out to them, it seems a risk worth taking. And that is the conclusion that Norfolk County Council came to on December 12th last year, when we voted for a County Deal at Level 3 with a Directly Elected Leader in 2025.
This year we have the opportunity to bring real reform to our County through our Deal with economic development, skills, jobs, regeneration, housing and all the other good things that come with a Level 3 package. However, there is still the struggle to balance our books and provide the services that our residents need, with ever-increasing demand and the rising costs of delivery in Adult and Childrens Social Care. It is a problem that all councils are facing, but not all Mayors. Our DEL combines mayoral functions with the regular functions of a County Council, we are currently unique. But then as I said before, in Norfolk we like to ‘do different’ and we will rise to this challenge.