Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Anne Clarke, Rowan Clarke, Amanda Davis, Sandra Peake, John Ritchie and Emma Stevenson.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

Council considered a report of the Leader and presentation by the Chief Executive relating to the interim proposals for Unitary Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Derbyshire.

The Leader, Councillor Jane Yates advised Council that she and the Chief Executive had been attending the various meetings relating to LGR and introduced the interim proposals as detailed in the report.

The Chief Executive made a presentation and introduced the report and summarised the key points as follows:

·       Since the last meeting of Council on 5^th March 2025 work had taken place with the Leaders and Chief Executives of Derbyshire’s Borough, District Councils and Derby City Council with the support of KPMG to review the various options for the establishment of unitary authorities in Derbyshire. There was consensus in the group that the submission made by Derbyshire County Council for a whole Derbyshire Unitary authority based on existing boundaries with Derby City Council remaining in its current form, effectively a doughnut council was not feasible. Derbyshire County Council had been invited several times to participate in the discussions but had not attended.

·       The proposals would be considered at meetings for the boroughs and districts during this week (excepting North East Derbyshire District Council which had delegated authority to the Leader and cabinet to agree the submission). Derby City Council had not reached a decision and had requested additional time from Government to consider their options.

·       The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had made it clear that interim proposals would not be binding due to any political changes that might arise following the county council elections.

·       At the recent DCN Conference, Jim McMahon OBE MP, Minister of State (MHCLG) had reported that positive conversations were taking place between councils and that there had to be balance between pace and deliverability.  The Strategic Authorities would not become Super County Councils as the new unitary authorities would be the delivery body for local services. The new unitary councils had to be sustainable and be committed to neighbourhood governance.

·       Appendix 3 to the report included the long list of options that had been considered. Appendix 2 was the proposed submission which included the two options namely North Derbyshire and South Derbyshire. It was confirmed that the proposals addressed the Government’s criteria namely striking the right balance between maintaining local identity, supporting local needs and harnessing efficiencies and scale of the two larger unitary councils.

·       It was confirmed that a thorough, robust and inclusive engagement programme that gathered perspectives from a broad range of stakeholders would be held to understand their requirements and views before a final option for Derbyshire was considered and submitted in November 2025.

·       All the councils in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire were also working together to submit a proposal covering 3 options namely:

§  A new unitary combining Nottingham, Broxtowe and Gedling with a second new unitary covering the rest of Nottinghamshire.

§  A new unitary combining Nottingham, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe with a second new unitary covering the rest of  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL95-24/25

The Chair thanked people for their attendance and closed the meeting.