Local Government Review.

Four years of distractions, Norfolk, 2006-2010.

For the public sector geeks among us (🙋🏼‍♂️) and for the record, I’ve collated all the information I have from the 2006-10 Local Government Review in Norfolk, including a timeline, research I authored, letters to and from the Boundary Committee and the Secretary of State, and so on. It was an interesting time for sure.

UPDATE December 2024

As the review of local government is again on the political agenda, I have written a deeper dive into the issues and challenges.

Read the blog series here:

I’ve also pulled these together into a long-read as a single article, as well as a .pdf for download and off-line review.

I led the Norfolk district council’s policy and research to develop and underpin proposals for new local government structures as well as being part of the team arguing against the resultant Boundary Committee proposals including the judicial review process.

I remember unearthing – and being grateful for – dusty files deep in the council archives containing documents from previous such exercises in the 1970s and 1990s. Therefore I share the following documents with the hope that they are not lost to history for those following this path in the future, or who just want a record of what happened.

For a wider perspective on the process that also involved numerous councils across the country I also recommend Michael Chisholm and Steve Leach’s ‘Botched Business‘.

The Local Government Boundary Committee for England was the body charged with reviewing structures. It was abolished in 2010 and its functions subsumed into a new Boundary Commission for England. Some information is also published on their website (link correct as at Dec 2020).