10/09/2026
Yesterday I attended Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Care and Public Health Select Committee.
One of the items discussed was the Communities and Neighbourhoods programme, which is looking at how services and organisations can work together locally to support people earlier and help prevent or delay the need for more formal care.
I asked officers for some clarity on a few points.
North Norfolk
There was no mention of North Norfolk in the information presented to us. I raised this, particularly given the challenges of delivering services across a rural and coastal area and my concern that North Norfolk can sometimes be left waiting for services and initiatives to reach us.
Officers explained that place-level plans are currently being developed, including for North Norfolk, setting out what will be delivered in each area. They offered to share the North Norfolk plan once developed, which I’ve asked to see.
VCSE capacity
The programme involves working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE), so I asked how capacity is being considered. Not every area has large, established organisations. Smaller organisations with relatively few volunteers do amazing work, but there is only so much they can offer without further support.
Officers acknowledged that their demand and capacity modelling isn’t yet where it needs to be, and said this work needs to be developed with local communities rather than simply imposed from the top down.
Where does the buck stop?
My last question was about accountability. When several organisations are working together to support somebody, what happens when something goes wrong, and who ultimately takes responsibility?
Officers acknowledged that this can be a problem in multi-agency working, including cases being passed between organisations.
The intention with the new model is that the neighbourhood team as a whole takes responsibility for supporting the resident, while individual organisations remain accountable for their own responsibilities.
Some useful answers and, importantly, a few things to follow up as the programme develops, particularly that North Norfolk plan.