Articles about social care from Norfolk County Council
Norfolk County Council is pressing ahead with the sale of Norse Care Limited to Stow Healthcare, despite calls from councillors to pause the process and open negotiations to scrutiny. A short-term contract extension has been put in place to maintain continuity for residents while the deal is finalised.
Source: Cabinet
Norfolk County Council is consulting on plans to introduce a £12-a-week charge for its appointeeship service, which helps people without family support to manage their benefit payments and bills. The service is currently free, and the proposed charge would cost eligible residents up to £624 a year. The consultation closes on 12 October 2026.
Source: Cabinet
Norfolk County Council has confirmed that care staff will transfer to two new providers under TUPE employment protections, and that the council has made additional payments to ensure workers retain access to their Local Government Pension Scheme. Residents' assessed care levels will not change without their agreement during the transition.
Source: Cabinet
Some families of disabled children in Norfolk are waiting up to 16 weeks for Short Breaks services, the county council has confirmed. Cabinet members say additional temporary staff have been brought in and normal waiting times are expected to return by September.
Source: Cabinet
Norfolk County Council has approved an £11.7 million allocation of Disabled Facilities Grant funding for 2026-27, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care. The money forms part of a wider £13.6 million addition to the council's capital programme.
Source: County Council
A motion calling for guarantees that efficiency savings would not reduce frontline care hours or worsen SEND assessment backlogs was defeated by 50 votes to 24. The council faces a £41.6 million funding gap that threatens adult social care and children's services.
Source: County Council
A motion to pause the planned sell-off of all 20 Norfolk County Council care homes to an overseas-owned company was defeated at the May 2026 full council meeting. The previous administration had agreed in principle to sell the homes, which are run by council-owned Norse Care. The new administration voted down the motion 52 to 25.
Source: County Council
Norfolk County Council has voted to review its £3 million Heating Oil Crisis Fund after concerns that eligibility rules are leaving struggling households without support. Around 70,000 Norfolk homes rely on heating oil and many fall outside the current income thresholds. The motion was narrowly defeated on the chair's casting vote, but sparked significant debate.
Source: County Council
A key corporate risk linked to adult social care has been moved off Norfolk County Council's top-level risk register, despite the service recently receiving a 'Requires Improvement' rating from the Care Quality Commission. A committee member raised concerns that the change reduces elected members' ability to scrutinise the issue.
Source: Audit and Governance
County-wide services like Adult Social Care and Children's Services could be broken into three separate operations under Norfolk's reorganisation, raising fears of unequal provision across the county. Council leaders are now being urged to keep shared services running as an interim measure while new authorities get established.
Source: Strategic and Corporate Select Committee
Residents and councillors challenged Norfolk County Council over its plan to sell NorseCare homes to a UK-registered company with US healthcare connections. Cabinet defended the process, saying all bidders had undergone due diligence and that the sale decision made in January 2026 would not be revisited.
Source: Cabinet
Norfolk County Council voted down a motion calling for tougher scrutiny of Care Quality Commission reports, after councillors raised concerns that damning inspection findings on adult social care and Swallowtail Place had not been properly examined. The motion failed 19 votes to 31.
Source: County Council
Councillors rejected a motion demanding condition surveys of all council-owned care homes before any disposal of the care estate goes ahead. The motion argued the widely-cited £80m upgrade figure was being misrepresented, and called for NorseCare to be considered as a standalone social enterprise.
Source: County Council
Norfolk County Council has set out a new All-Age Carers Strategy aimed at improving support for unpaid carers of all ages, from young carers in schools to adults who may not even realise they are caring for someone. The strategy was co-designed with carers and builds on recommendations from a recent Care Quality Commission inspection report.
Source: Adult Social Care and Public Health Select Committee
Norfolk County Council's adult social care service is pushing forward a major overhaul involving 22 separate projects, covering areas from day centres to nursing home provision and new technology. Councillors raised concerns about bureaucracy, market stability, and whether small care providers will be supported through the changes.
Source: Adult Social Care and Public Health Select Committee
The Household Support Fund, which helped over 12,000 Norfolk families, ends on 31 March 2026 and is being replaced by a new Crisis and Resilience Fund running until 2029. The new fund comes with less money and new rules that prevent the council from issuing cost-of-living vouchers.
Source: Cabinet
Norfolk County Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team told the Norfolk Local Access Forum that involving accessibility experts from the start of any project — rather than as an afterthought — leads to better outcomes for disabled people. The team warned that competing access needs can make solutions complex, but early consultation helps establish whether a project is viable at all.
Source: Norfolk Local Access Forum
Following the in-principle agreement to sell Norse's care operations to Stow Healthcare, councillors asked how the deal would be reflected in Norfolk Council's financial reporting. Officers have agreed to provide a written response to the committee.
Source: Audit and Governance