Minister tells divided councils he is prepared to make final call to scrap them

A government minister has told Norfolk's divided councils that he and Angela Rayner are prepared to make the final call over a huge shake-up which would see them scrapped. Jim McMahon, local government minister, said he hoped consensus will be reached over the new model of government for the county under local government reorganisation. Councils are currently split over what they want to see regarding the biggest shake-up in 50 years, which will mean all eight Norfolk councils abolished and replaced with new ones .

But Mr McMahon said he and the deputy prime minister could impose a model if consensus is not reached by September. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (Image: Press Association) The eight authorities are due to be replaced by unitary councils, which provide all services. That will happen as part of a process related to the devolution of powers from Whitehall to local councils, which will also see the creation of a Norfolk and Suffolk mayor.



Councils were asked to suggest what the local government shake-up should look like, with an initial submission lodged earlier this month. But there is not unanimity. Norfolk County Council favours one or two unitary councils, South Norfolk Council prefers two, while the other authorities are backing three councils.

Mr McMahon, during a visit in which he saw progress on the revamp of the keep at Norwich Castle , said: "We don't want so many proposals that it's a crowded field. "It's the government's job, in the end, to decide which proposal best meets the criteria we've set. "It may well be if there are competing proposals, that I and the deputy prime minister will make a call on which is the right one, on balance.

" But he said he was not alarmed at the lack of consensus at the moment. He said: "We do need to allow flexibility here, where local leaders and local councillors get together and develop proposals which will be right for their area. "Is it an issue that there are different proposals? I would say not.

"What we want to see is collaboration. We want to see local leaders sharing information and sharing data, so the baseline is at least common across all proposals." People are urged to have their say on devolution at www.

gov.uk/government/consultations/norfolk-and-suffolk-devolution.