Could controversial council shake-up be shaken off?

The plan to scrap Norfolk's county and district councils and replace them with new unitary ones is the biggest change to local government in decades.

Supporters say the idea will drive economic growth and improve efficiency while bringing power closer to the people.

Opponents say it is an unnecessary waste of money that does not register with the public.

Arguments over it have been heated and the government is facing legal challenges, including from Reform UK, which is now the biggest party on the county council after this month's elections.

So what is local government reorganisation (LGR)? And why is it being challenged?

Right now local services in Norfolk are split between the county and district councils.

The county is the bigger authority and gets most of our council tax. It is responsible for things like social care, education, libraries, roads and recycling centres.

The districts handle areas like social housing, homelessness, planning and leisure centres.

Soon after coming to power, the Labour government said it wanted to scrap the existing councils and replace them with one or more unitary authorities, which would be responsible for all local services.

It argued the overhaul would make local government simpler and produce savings by improving efficiency.

After a lengthy debate, ministers settled on a system that would seethree new councils created in the county – one for west Norfolk, one for the east and one for "Greater Norwich".

Alongside LGR is the – now delayed – devolution plan to have a mayor for Norfolk and Suffolk.

The mayor would get £1.1bn over 30 years to invest in the two counties, with powers over things like transport, adult education and skills, and housing.

Following the local elections, Reform is expected to run the county council as a minority administration, and it has said it wants to take on the government in court.

Group leader David Bick said the proposed changes would be paid for by taxpayers, argued there was little support for LGR from the public and challenging it would be far cheaper than implementing it.

"It's an absolute nonsense, whatever way you look at it," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The practical reality is that very few people even know what LGR is."

His comments follow similar announcements from Reform in Suffolk and Essex after the party won control of both county councils. Legal action has already begun in Essex.

Conservative Kay Mason Billig, who was Norfolk County Council leader before the elections, accused Bick of being a "Johnny Come Lately riding on our coat tails".

She had already opposed the idea of three unitary authorities and argued just one for the whole county would provide the best value and services.

Before the elections, she declared her group no longer supported LGR – and said they had already looked at options for a legal challenge.

The council has since confirmed it has sent a legal pre-action letter to the government although a spokesman said it "can't disclose the contents".

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been approached for comment.

Six of Norfolk's district councils backed the idea of switching to three unitary authorities and according to their figures, the estimated cost is £146m over eight years.

That includes areas like redundancies, as the new authorities should need fewer staff.

However, while the outlay is high the councils claimed that the savings over the same time period would be even higher – an estimated £366m.

The figures have been disputed though, with analysis prepared for the county council arguing there would be a net-loss of £246m over five years.

The Liberal Democrats, the second largest party on the county council, said Reform's position was "incoherent".

Leader Brian Watkins said they were "blatantly jumping the gun, because the council still does not have any kind of Reform administration officially in place".

"The potential prospect of challenging the government will be very costly indeed," he added.

The Greens' Maxine Webb also said Reform "can't get ahead of themselves" before forming an administration.

An MHCLG spokeswoman said: "Local government reorganisation will put one council in charge of decisions in their area.

"This will speed up the construction of new homes and infrastructure, improve public services and boost regional growth to put more money in people's pockets," she added.

She also confirmed the ministry had received a letter from the county council and "as the decision may be subject to legal action, it would not be appropriate to comment further".

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