Your views on the future of Norse Care homes

Overview

We are asking for your views on our proposals to sell Norse Care homes to Stow Healthcare Ltd, a well-established care home provider with a record of providing Good or Outstanding care from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 

Norfolk County Council (NCC) is seeking to progress the sale of 20 Norse Care homes to a private company called Stow Healthcare Ltd (Stow). Our proposal aims to protect existing residents and ensure that we have care homes and support that is modern and suitable for a wide range of care needs.

Some Norse Care homes are dated and need more money spent on them to meet modern standards to ensure that they are suitable for residents, with increasingly complex care needs.

The council launched a review of its care homes last year, as its contract with Norse Care Limited was due to end in March 2026. At the end of this process, we selected Stow as our preferred care provider. 

The council is now looking at progressing the sale of the Norse Care homes to Stow. The sale will only be completed if it meets the key principles outlined in the paper presented to Cabinet on 26 January 2026 of:

• Transforming the estate
• Ensuring value for money for Adult Social Care
• Ensuring value for money for residents.

We understand these proposed changes may be worrying for residents and their families, and that is why we selected Stow. Stow are a known provider with homes across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex and have a strong track record in providing good or outstanding care (including: Ford Place Care Home in Thetford, Norfolk - CQC Outstanding, February 2021, Brandon Park Care Home in Brandon, Suffolk – CQC Outstanding, November 2022, Stowlangtoft Hall in Stowlangtoft, Suffolk – CQC Outstanding, March 2022).

The sale to Stow is planned as a ‘share transfer’. This means that Stow will be purchasing the shares in the company to become the new owner. Should the sale progress, Norse Care Limited will be rebranded as Stow Healthcare Ltd. Staff may have new uniforms and Norse Care signs will be removed and replaced with the name Stow Healthcare. The care residents receive should not be affected by the sale and we will work with Stow to ensure that any care costs will not be unduly impacted.

As part of the ‘share transfer’ staff will move to Stow Healthcare and remain employed and working at their current home, as we know how important it is to have care provided by the same familiar person.

Stow has given the council its assurances that they do not plan to close any homes as part of the sale. However, if the sale goes ahead NCC and Norse Group (which owns Norse Care Limited) will no longer have control over the care homes or the care provided.  Any redevelopment Stow may carry out to create modern facilities may involve residents needing to relocate from their current home in the future.

The homes that require modernisation may have needed to close for redevelopment regardless of the sale. If homes do need to be closed for any redevelopment, residents will be supported by Adult Social Care to ensure their care needs continue to be met.

We have asked Stow for their plans over the next three to five years, so that we can better understand their ideas for the future. Stow have told us, for example, they are prepared to modernise the homes and may look at enhancing dementia care services. Should there be any impact on individual homes, we will be in touch to discuss this in more detail to understand what it means for you.

We understand that the changes may be worrying for residents and their families. We want to reassure residents and their families that this sale is about making sure we can continue to provide the right amount of suitable and high-quality accommodation and that we can meet the needs of our local population, while providing value for money for residents.

Why your views matter

As part of this process, we are required to consult and gather your views on this proposal. We are consulting through:

• Letter and Easy Read version of the consultation sent to all Norse Care residents or their designated representatives.
• The online consultation, which is also available as a paper copy and in different formats.
• Contacting other organisations that have residential care placements with Norse Care.
• Providing an opportunity for face-to-face conversations at each care home.

The consultation runs from Monday 16 February 2026 and we hope to have received all the responses by midnight Sunday 22 March 2026. We want to give you the opportunity to share your views, but we cannot guarantee that responses received long after this date will be able to taken into account.  

The consultation questions should take about 15 minutes to complete.

How we will make our decision and report back to you

We will take a report about the findings of this consultation to our decision makers. They will make a decision later this year and we will communicate the results back to you.  

Decision makers will consider the consultation responses we receive very carefully. In particular, they will take into account:

• The impact of any proposal on individuals, groups or communities and in particular on people identified as having 'protected characteristics' under the Equality Act 2010. The protected characteristics are: age; disability; gender reassignment; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation. 
• The views of people consulted.
• The evidence of need and what is proven to work effectively and well.
• The financial and legal positions and any constraints at the time.

Your opinions are valuable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond.