The East Anglia devolution deal is at risk of being killed off due to the ‘institutional arrogance’ of central government, argues the leader of Norfolk County Council.
Writing exclusively in The MJ this week, George Nobbs accused the Government of not living up to its promise of a bottom-up approach to devolution.
He claimed Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire will not be able to sell the deal to the public – particularly the idea of a directly-elected mayor, which is ‘universally opposed’ in shire county England.
He wrote: ‘Whitehall officials, having dealt with unitary authorities, simply haven’t been able to adjust their thinking for working at a county and district level.’
