Derbyshire County Council claims ‘one council’ plan will save £133m despite districts’ call for two-layers

The Labour Government’s Local Government Reorganisation White Paper proposals include potentially setting up single, unitary authorities across England with an elected mayor in counties by merging or scrapping councils in two-tier authority areas like Derbyshire that operate county, and then district and borough councils.

However, Derbyshire’s eight district and borough councils have indicated their preferred plans as part of joint initial proposals recently submitted to Government are for a new potential two-layer unitary authority with a north and south split despite Derbyshire County Council’s desire for a single super-council unitary authority with Derby remaining in its current form as a city unitary council.

County Council Leader, Cllr Barry Lewis, said: “There is no doubt that one council on the current county council footprint would deliver better value for money for residents with fewer councillors and fewer senior officers.

“It will mean more money to invest in frontline services such as waste collection, road maintenance, housing services, children’s and adult social care – all things which matter to residents.

“In our view, this is the simplest transition as a new council would continue to serve the same number of residents as it currently does, just bringing more services together to make it less confusing for residents.

“Don’t let anybody tell you this would be some ‘mega council’ which is too big to serve residents, that argument simply doesn’t make sense.

“We already serve those 800,000 people and this step simply does away with a level we don’t need any more, simplifying things for everyone.

“Residents have told me time and again that they find contacting their local councils confusing – whether it is for bin collections and household recycling, or leisure centres and libraries.”

But Chesterfield Borough Council’s Leader Cllr Tricia Gilby has stated a two-layer, north and south arrangement will ‘put people and places first’ and will lift services with better value to economies of scale while sharing good practice with business sectors and partners to promote growth.

Proposals from Derbyshire’s eight district and borough councils for a two-layer system include one option where Amber Valley Borough Council would be part of a northern unitary council alongside High Peak Borough Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, North East Derbyshire District Council, and Bolsover District Council.

A second option could see the formation of a separate southern unitary council with Derby City Council, South Derbyshire District Council, and Erewash Borough Council with Amber Valley Borough Council moving from the northern unitary council to join the southern unitary council.

Cllr Gilby claims these options maintain the historic areas of Derbyshire and provide an opportunity to work with partners within the right sized areas and allow for continued engagement with the new East Midlands Combined County Authority.

She argued the county council’s proposal for a single unitary council under LGR excluding Derby City Council is not the right approach because of its scale with a population of over 800,000 people and size of the county.

The eight Derbyshire district and borough councils have also argued the county council’s plans would create a ‘doughnut effect’ around Derby city leading to inefficient delivery of services, stifling economic and housing growth creating a significant disparity between Derbyshire and Derby in terms of population and taxbase.

Cllr Gilby told a recent meeting Derbyshire County Council was invited to join discussions with the district and borough councils but declined even though the county council has stated its aim is to adopt a proactive approach working with other councils to approve a single unitary council.

Chesterfield Borough Council Deputy Leader, Cllr Amanda Serjeant, who has stated district and borough councils have been working well together, said: “We are working together to come up with a sensible solution and it’s very sad that Derbyshire County Council won’t work with the districts.”

However, the county council argues its one single unitary council proposal means one authority would continue to serve Derbyshire’s 800,000 residents for services such as social care, education, roads, children’s services and waste recycling centres.

And it added that other services brought under the same council would include bin collections, housing, parks and leisure allowing the authority to work more closely together and provide a better service.

The county council claims independent research shows one new council on the current county footprint would save an estimated £133m over the first five years and a recent county council poll with over 8,000 participants resulted in 59per cent of respondents saying they agreed or strongly agreed with this approach.

It has also argued that a financial analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2020 and updated in 2025 concluded larger authorities can save up to £2.8bn across all county areas over a five-year reorganisation programme.

The county council added that for Derbyshire it is estimated from the PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis that a single unitary model for the county would save £133m as a net benefit after five years and the payback period of implementing a single unitary model would be less than a year.

It also claims that from this analysis a two-unitary model would save only £45m as a net benefit over five years and would cost around £6.6m more to implement.

Cllr Lewis added: “Under our proposals, we will explore better opportunities for more localised services for residents whilst still retaining that simple ‘one council contact’ for all.

“Better opportunities for residents could include, for example, a county-wide Derbyshire leisure pass or local planning area committees to ensure local planning and housing decisions are made at a very local level.

“Splitting Derbyshire into a north and south option with Derby City Council absorbed – like the proposals put forward by other councils in Derbyshire – not only splits the county up but risks the bulk of the business rates going into the south, and money being swallowed up by the city.

“Our proposal for one single county unitary aims to consider how resources can continue to be fairly shared across the whole county, including our rural communities, towns and villages. Derby city would continue to operate as its own unitary authority whilst we continue to serve the rest of the county.

“And we must stress, this is only an interim proposal at this stage. We now look forward to the Government reviewing the options and providing us with feedback to enable the council to progress to the next stage.

“Following feedback from Government, we propose to publish more details about our proposals to enable us to further engage with residents and stakeholders over the summer period.”

Cllr Lewis has stated he hopes LGR will bring value for money, better use of resources, and social service delivery that is efficient, safe and responsible and he says he is determined to protect Derbyshire’s boundaries.

He has expressed concerns about MPs in places like the High Peak talking about throwing this part of Derbyshire into Tameside and he is equally concerned about discussions about areas around Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire going to South Yorkshire while insisting that LGR’s intention is not to disadvantage any area.

Opposition Conservative Group Leader Linda Grooby, at Labour-controlled High Peak Borough Council, which has unanimously backed plans for a two-layer unitary authority has also said she welcomed East Midlands Combined County Authority Mayor Claire Ward’s opposition to proposals for High Peak to move away from either Derbyshire or the East Midlands region.

Cllr Grooby said: “However, we still lack the confidence in this statement and still seek further assurance that this idea has been well and truly removed from any options for LGR.

“The suggestion of joining Greater Manchester in any way has created a wealth of public opinion against this idea.”

All councils across England were given until March 21 to submit their initial, interim LGR proposals to the Labour Government before they all have to submit final proposals by November 28.

Derby City Council, which had indicated support for the district and boroughs’ proposals for a two-layer unitary authority, saw a majority of councillors vote to delay its decision on the initial proposals after a lengthy debate at a recent meeting proved inconclusive.

A consultation is due to seek the views of all Derbyshire residents, businesses, community representations and public sector partners and the Government is hoping for unitary mayoral elections to happen by 2026 with the first newly-changed councils to be running by 2028.

The Government has argued that LGR plans will include elected mayors with more powers on planning and transport, and that the changes will create savings, create greater efficiency, improve public services, and support economic growth.

But critics are concerned about the loss of district and borough councils, a risk of greater Government control, the removal of local decision-making, tax increases, powers being taken away from communities and some also doubt the plans will create savings.

Opposition Liberal Democrat Chesterfield Borough Cllr Paul Holmes has opposed the whole concept of the unitary authority devolution plan which he has dubbed as ‘Hobson’s Choice’.

Cllr Holmes has argued the Labour Government introduced its plan with no democratic mandate and that it will see the ‘obliteration’ of up to 200 councils with questionable savings and he believes it will not represent the best interests of Chesterfield residents.

Derbyshire’s eight district and borough councils include Amber Valley Borough Council, Bolsover District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council. Erewash Borough Council, High Peak Borough Council, North East Derbyshire District Council, and South Derbyshire District Council.