Norwich City Council has opted to set up a wholly-owned company when it brings its services back in-house from next year.

The council said that ending the current joint venture arrangement with Norse would give it 'greater flexibility' over the delivery of services.

Norwich City Services will incorporate the services provided by Norwich Norse Environmental in 2021, with Norwich Norse Building (NNB) and NPS Norwich following over in 2022.

However NPS Norwich employees will transfer back to the city council rather than the new company when the contract comes to an end.

Cllr Alan Waters, leader of the council, said: 'We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to identify the best solution to bring back this entire workforce in such a way that we have more direct control over the vital services that our residents rely on us to provide.

'During the process of transfer, our priority is to limit any impact on staff and service delivery, and that means we have and will continue to take the necessary time to ensure this transition is as seamless as possible.'

Photo: © Evelyn Simak