Derbyshire councils meet to discuss options for local government reorganisation
Borough, city and district councils from across Derbyshire met to discuss the local government reorganisation which is on the cards from central government.
Leaders from Amber Valley Borough Council, Bolsover District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Derby City Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Erewash Borough Council, High Peak Borough Council, North East Derbyshire District Council and South Derbyshire District Council came together last week to discuss options for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Derbyshire, mindful of the Government's deadline of Friday March, 21 for initial proposals.
The Leader of Derbyshire County Council was also invited but declined to attend.
The meeting was to try and get a plan in place for the possible restructure of local government.
A joint statement issued by all those who attended the meeting said: "Working collaboratively, and in the best interests of local residents and businesses, we explored a range of options that would ensure that Derbyshire's historic boundaries remained intact, while also creating new unitary councils of the right scale to deliver the best possible services for our communities. "The current options we are exploring would involve the creation of two new unitary Councils utilising the geographies of the eight district councils as the key building blocks alongside the geography of Derby City Council.”
In December 2024 an official proposals for future legislation was announced, which if passed by parliament would see multiple layers of local government such as High Peak Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council become one unitary local government.
At the meeting the council leaders made it clear the County of Derbyshire and the City of Derby would continue to exist and retain their own unique identities irrespective of whatever option is agreed going forward.
The proposals would however result in both Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council being abolished, along with Derbyshire's eight District and Borough Councils.
The leaders noted the options under consideration ‘clearly meet the criteria set out in the Government's invitation to submit proposals for unitary Local Government, in particular a population size of c500,000, and a sustainable local taxbase that is fair and balanced across all of Derbyshire and Derby’.
The plans, they say, also provide the opportunity for the two new unitary councils to work in genuine partnership and collaborate on the delivery of all local government services, in turn ensuring the best possible value for money to local taxpayers.
The statement said: “Most importantly, we believe they would be of the appropriate size to strike the right balance between retaining the strong local connections we already have with our communities and being financially sustainable.”
The council leaders say they are of the view that Derbyshire County Council's proposed 'county unitary' option would effectively 'doughnut' Derby City Council.
If implemented they believe it would create a large and remote council, with disparate communities, particularly across Southern Derbyshire, that would in turn lead to the inefficient delivery of services.
The leaders added: “Consequently we are still open to meeting with the Leader of Derbyshire County Council for future discussions around LGR, as although our current positions aren't aligned, we firmly believe this would be in the best interests of the residents that elect us and use our services, and the businesses that rely on us to support local employment and drive economic growth."