Reform’s first day in power in Norfolk

In the recent local elections Reform took 40 of the 84 seats on Norfolk County Council, making them the largest party, but without an overall majority. This is partly the effect of Rupert Lowe’s split with Nigel Farage, which led him to launch ‘Great Yarmouth First’ as separate party. Lowe’s party won all nine seats in Great Yarmouth. If there are difficult decisions in the future, Reform will need their support.

Predictably, as the largest party, Reform councillors were elected as chair and vice chair of the council. They also took the chair of the key Strategic and Corporate Committee, which is responsible for holding the administration to account.

Motions

The first motion was a proposal from the Council’s Chief Executive to abolish the posts of Political Assistant. Norfolk has had three such posts since 2001. They have been employed to support the three largest party groups on the council to undertake research, write briefings for councillors and organise meetings. It was pointed out that two Reform controlled councils, Kent and Warwickshire, had recently chosen to introduce Assistants, but the measure was to make a saving of £163,000 a year, which Reform will no doubt wish to claim as evidence of their cost cutting approach. The vote was to abolish the posts by 46 to 17.

An urgent motion was proposed to halt the process of selling the 20 care homes which the council owns, to the American firm Stowe Healthcare. This had been negotiated by the previous Conservative administration on the grounds that the homes require significant investment in upgrading which can only be provided by a private buyer. Against was the case that five of the homes are currently rated Outstanding, and that once disposed of, there could be no guarantee of maintaining them or the quality of the service. The council voted by 52 to 24 to continue with the sale.

Reform proposed a review of all the county’s Net Zero policies and to ensure that value for money was prioritised over climate change issues. The outgoing council leader pointed out that there is no mention of net zero in existing council policies, and that value for money had always been a priority. Nevertheless, the motion was carried by 46 to 30.

The Greens proposed a motion calling for a reinforcement of council commitments to equality and diversity. Unsurprisingly, this was defeated by 44 to 30.

Seventeen percent of homes in Norfolk are dependent on unregulated oil for heating, and the county is to receive £11.2 m under the government’s Crisis and Resilience Fund, to support them. A Liberal Democrat motion proposed that this money should not be simply given as grants, but used to support investment in insulation and alternative heating solutions. The motion was defeated with the chair’s casting vote.

At 2.00pm, the meeting reached its time limit, and a motion to allow an extension was defeated. The outstanding motions were then voted on without debate, with the following results:

A Great Yarmouth First motion to review a controversial cycle lane scheme in Great Yarmouth carried by 64 to 14
A Conservative motion to oppose local government reorganisation, defeated by 52 to 22
A motion from the sole Labour member to ensure that any further “efficiency savings” do not result in a reduction of care hours for adults or delivery of Education Health and Care Plans. Defeated by 50 to 24.
A Conservative motion to celebrate and continue the achievements of the previous administration, and specifically not to dispose of key assets such as libraries, museums, the county farm estate or recycling centres. Defeated by 47 to 38.

Overall, the meeting was well conducted and there was little evident party hostility. Most of the speaking was by opposition councillors, who are more experienced in the role. Most of the Reform councillors did not speak, though the numbers suggest that they were voting as a bloc. We will see whether they become more active as they find their feet.

The two predictable provocative motions, on net zero and diversity, produced the predictable results. The big surprise was the decision not to follow the Reform councils in Essex and Suffolk in opposing local government reorganisation.

The meeting was live-streamed on YouTube, and can be found here.