Three external consultancies have been hired to help Norfolk County Council manage the complex process of reorganising local government ahead of a government deadline of 1 April 2028.

The Deputy Leader, Cllr Robin Hunter-Clarke, confirmed the appointments in response to a question at the August Cabinet meeting. Grant Thornton has been paid £50,000 for financial support, PS Tax Finance £32,000 for finance support, and Inner Circle Consulting £280,000 for transition support — a combined total of £362,000 spent to date.

The spending is drawn from a pooled budget jointly funded by all eight Norfolk councils — the county council plus the seven district councils — along with a contribution from central government.

The reorganisation programme, known as LGR, is working towards replacing the current two-tier system of county and district councils with new unitary authorities. A single officer implementation team including senior representatives from all eight councils has been formed and meets regularly.

Cllr Hunter-Clarke said voluntary joint committees — one for each new council area — have already started meeting ahead of formal committees being established under any government Structural Changes Order.

The question was prompted by concerns over governance, following the departure of the council's chief executive, who had been named as the Senior Responsible Officer for the LGR programme. That role is now being fulfilled by the Executive Director of Strategy and Transformation.

The Deputy Leader said the full details of the risk mitigation measures and progress updates are published in the council's Corporate Risk Register.