Chair
The Chair of Norfolk County Council is Cllr Tom FitzPatrick.
The Vice-Chair is Cllr Robert Savage.
Roles and responsibilities
The main duty of the Chair is to chair meetings of full council. The Chair is the civic ambassador for the authority, and represents the council at events including remembrance, community events and royal visits.
Request attendance of the Chair
The Chair receives invitations from all parts of the community and attends as many as possible throughout the year. The Chair is non-political and cannot be involved with political or contentious events.
To request the attendance of the Chair to an event, please complete and submit the request attendance of the Chair online form. Please complete all the questions if possible.
Theme of the Year - Who is My Neighbour?
"During the difficult period of COVID, there was a lot of help given throughout our county and across the country. Much of this help in communities was formalised by the County Council, Districts, town and parish councils. Churches and many voluntary organisations led the way.
In addition, many people simply kept an eye open to see if their neighbours needed help, and there was much comment in the press and social media that this was the way things had been in the past, and that this spirit had been rekindled. People in a neighbourhood knew their neighbours and looked out for them almost as a matter of course, in an informal way.
Nowadays, we call that community cohesion and there is a lot of discussion about the need to see it rebuilt, particularly as we all seem to find ourselves busier than ever.
So, my theme this year of asking 'who is my neighbour?' is a reminder and to some extent a challenge, to me and all of us to 'be that neighbour' when we can.
This is not intended to be a task or anything formal, but sometimes it might simply mean that our neighbours know that they can rely on us for help, which might often just be someone to say 'hello' or even just listen from time to time. To notice that we have not seen someone for a while and check that there is not a problem. Drop a letter in the pillar box for someone.
Of course, many people do much more in our communities and on a regular basis. But this is the backup behind the scenes. The more of us who are open to doing this, the easier it is to provide that informal network. This approach, also reminds us all that sometimes we might 'be that neighbour' who needs help, sometimes the one who feels that a friendly face or 'good morning' would be a real help." - Cllr Tom FitzPatrick.
Contact the Chair
Chair's Office
Democratic Services
Ground Floor South Wing
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
NR1 2DH
Email: chairofthecouncil@norfolk.gov.uk
Chair's engagements
May 2025
2 May - Great Yarmouth Allotments and Community Kitchen Visit
8 May - Flag Raising Ceremony in Great Yarmouth
8 May - VE Day Event in Kings Lynn
11 May - VE Day 80 Years Service at Norwich Cathedral
16 May - Visit to Delta Fire
22 May - Citizenship Ceremony
27 May - Le Paradis Memorial Service
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