Norwich eyes unitary cash refund

Norwich City Council looks set to ask the government to refund the money spent preparing the authority to become a unitary council - after the new coalition announced it planned to scrap the process.

The city council's long-held hope of taking on responsibility for services such as education and social services in Norwich, currently provided by Norfolk County Council, seemed to have the green light, when, in March, the government laid down orders for it to move towards becoming a unitary council by next year.

But that dream was shattered when, within days of the new government taking office, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced he would block the move to unitary announced by the previous government through a local government bill.

The city council had set up an implementation executive to pave the way for the new council and officers from City Hall and County Hall had been working on the changes.

At a meeting of the city council executive next week, members are set to agree the council should seek to get the estimated �200,000 pent on that process since March back from the government, as soon as the local government bill has been passed.

Council leader Steve Morphew said: 'We entered into this in good faith and whatever the outcome now, we played by the rules with the government and the Boundary Committee. We got to the point where orders were passed, which validated the spend, but now, through no fault of our own, the government wants to take that away.

'We want to negotiate with civil servants to see if we can be partly reimbursed for that. We have already been hit hardest than most with the cuts introduced so far.'

However, it looks as if City Hall will get short shrift from Whitehall.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government, said: 'Costs incurred by the city council are entirely a matter for the council itself.

'On two occasions the Minister for Local Government has written to the council about the bill to stop the restructuring of councils in Norfolk, Devon and Suffolk.

'He explained the government's intention and that no further work should be undertaken or costs incurred in the meantime.

'Stopping restructuring will save around �40m and ministers are clear that not a penny more should be spent on unnecessary restructuring plans.'

The executive is also likely to agree to suspend the allowances paid to the elected members of the implementation executive. George Nobbs, leader of the Labour group at County Hall, had previously called for the implementation executive to discuss whether to get rid of them, given the government had ordered the city council to scale back its unitary working.

Mr Nobbs was told the implementation executive could not make that decision and Mr Morphew instead put the proposal to suspend the allowances to executive.

The 18 councillors on the implementation executive are currently entitled to share �187,000 in allowances, but the last meeting of the committee was cancelled, as has the one scheduled for next week.

But the implementation executive will not be completely scrapped, as officers say it might have to meet again to deal with government directions on reversing the unitary process.