The £620m devolution deal for Norfolk is “a prize worth fighting for”, the leader of the county council has insisted - in the face of a rebellion by fellow Conservatives.
Thirteen Tory councillors gave their apologies for their absence at the Norfolk County Council meeting, where the county deal offered by the government, which would include a directly-elected leader at County Hall, was debated.
A number of them were ‘twin-hatters’, who also sit on one of the four councils - South Norfolk, Breckland, Broadland and North Norfolk - which are mounting a legal challenge over County Hall’s handling of the deal.
Council leader Andrew Proctor criticised detractors of the deal, saying: “We ought to be excited about it for our residents, not try to stop it from happening.
“For too long, Norfolk, as a rural county, has been left behind, which is why devolution is a prize and one worth fighting for.”
Mr Proctor has repeatedly said agreeing to pursue the deal is just the first step, which will open up other funding streams and opportunities in the future. He said: "You don't get utopia on a plate."
Under the deal, announced by levelling up secretary Michael Gove, Norfolk will receive £620m funding over the next 30 years, while powers will be transferred from Whitehall to a directly-elected leader of Norfolk County Council.
The council was offered the deal in December after months of negotiations with central government.
But critics have attacked the deal, with districts unhappy at what they said was a lack of engagement with them - sparking moves to get a judicial review over the process in the High Court.
They and opposition councillors were unhappy the vote to ratify and press on with getting the deal in place rested with the 10 members of the council’s Conservative-controlled cabinet, not with the full council, which could only talk about the deal and note the latest situation.
Labour put forward an amendment which would have got the council’s lawyers to look into changing the constitution, so the full council would make decisions around devolution.
Labour leader Steve Morphew said: “This is a thin deal, a poor deal and not the deal Norfolk needs at a time when we are trying to tackle other crises.”
He said it did nothing to help with adult social care, had no exit strategy and the £20m a year was not linked to inflation.
But that amendment was rejected, with 37 votes for, 22 against and one abstention.
Mr Proctor had told councillors that, ultimately, the final decision over the council governance changes which would make the deal a reality would rest with the full council.
But Brian Watkins, leader of the Liberal Democrat group said the deal had “gone down like a lead balloon” with a number of senior Conservatives and was causing “chaos and acrimony”.
Green leader Ben Price said: “We have a poor deal in front of us and a divided Conservative party, with many familiar faces missing today.”
But Conservative county councillor Brian Long, a former leader of West Norfolk Council, said Norfolk could not keep rejecting every deal being offered.
And Carl Smith, Tory county councillor and leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council backed the deal, saying it would bring more jobs, increased skills and better housing.
A Green amendment, which called for work to demonstrate how the deal will commit to preventing climate change and encouraging biodiversity, was also lost.
One of the Conservatives absent from Tuesday’s (January 17) meeting was Bill Borrett, cabinet member for adult social care and a councillor on Breckland Council, which is one of the councils pursuing a legal challenge.
But his fellow cabinet member John Fisher, also a Broadland district councillor was present. He said he supported the deal and Mr Proctor 100%.
However, the children's services cabinet member said he was now having "difficulty" supporting his district council leader Shaun Vincent, who had backed the legal letter to the county council.
The council agreed, by 37 votes to 22, with one abstention, that the cabinet would proceed with the deal and that governance arrangements will be considered in or around December.
The Conservative-controlled cabinet met in the afternoon, where it agreed to ratify the in-principle deal and to start a six-week public consultation on February 6.
If the deal is agreed, the first election for a directly-elected council leader would be in May 2024.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here