Norfolk County Council's new administration has scrapped the Local Member Fund (LMF), ending a scheme that gave every county councillor a dedicated budget to fund small-scale local highways improvements such as road safety measures, pedestrian schemes, and flood prevention work.

The Leader confirmed the fund — only introduced in 2025 — had been redirected into the council's general highways maintenance budget for 2026/27 to help address an £80 million pothole backlog across the county.

Opposition councillors brought a motion to the 21 July full council meeting demanding the fund be reinstated immediately, arguing that local councillors were best placed to identify small-scale needs in their communities and that many had made election pledges they could no longer fulfil. The motion was narrowly defeated, with 32 votes in favour and 36 against.

The Leader had previously described the LMF as "an inefficient use of funds and officer time", while critics argued scrapping it centralised decision-making at County Hall and left communities without a direct channel for small-scale investment.

Councillors also noted that the LMF had recorded an underspend in 2025/26, with those funds absorbed back into the general budget rather than being rolled forward.

A separate request — for a report to the Strategic and Corporate Select Committee examining the fund's impact and exploring alternatives — was also part of the defeated motion, meaning no formal review has been commissioned.