Your Views On Savings Proposals

Overview

Norfolk County Council faces difficult decisions to deliver on its ambitions for the people of Norfolk against a difficult economic climate and more than a decade of reduced funding. Each year, the Council reviews its budget and proposes the savings it will need to make for the following year to balance its budget.

We carried out our annual budget and council tax consultation for 2024/25 between October and December 2023. However, the Government’s autumn statement and provisional funding settlement, which followed our budget consultation, set out a worse funding position for local authorities than had previously been anticipated. As a result, the Council is £4m worse off than it had expected to be.

For 2024/25 the Council has proposed £41.5m of new savings which may require further consultation. The Council is doing its best to protect key services, but faced with rising costs, rising demand and under-funding, it must make difficult decisions to balance the books.

Norfolk County Council is committed to making Norfolk a county where businesses, organisations and communities continue to thrive together. Our Better Together, For Norfolk strategy sets out our ambitions to be one of the highest performing counties in the country, overseeing economic growth, creating jobs and opportunities for the people of Norfolk, while maintaining and cherishing our environment, countryside and heritage. 

However, we, like other upper tier local authorities, continue to face very significant pressures arising from rising costs driven by inflation, growth in demand and the National Living Wage.

Although the Council’s budget increases each year with Council Tax, it is not enough to meet growing needs and costs.

The October 2023 Cabinet meeting considered 2024-25 savings proposals totalling £26.5 million. The 2023 Cabinet meeting minutes are available on the Norfolk County Council website. They make a significant contribution towards our target of £41.5 million and will help the council to continue to deliver the key services for Norfolk’s residents, while balancing the books.

It is in these difficult times that the County Council cannot afford any complacency and, working with its partners, we consider how best to deploy our own limited resources to support the most vulnerable people and communities, whilst continuing to provide wider public services.

Below, you can find links to consultations on the following proposals:

• Reduction of opening hours at some recycling centres to deliver a more consistent approach, in line with neighbouring authorities
   
• Reduction in streetlight provision
   
• Changing the opening hours and introducing pre-booking of visits and new paid services at the Norfolk Record Office

Why your views matter

The consultations are open from 15 February 2024 until 22 March 2024.

We will feed back the findings from our consultations to our county councillors as part of the evidence they will use to help them come to a decision about our proposals. 

We will take a report about the findings of this consultation to the Council Cabinet in June 2024. 

What happens next

We will take a report about the findings of this consultation to Cabinet in June 2024.

Our county councillors 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.  As well as this equality impact assessment, councillors will consider the impact of proposals on rural areas
• The views of people and stakeholders 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
• Any potential alternative options, models or ideas for making the savings.