Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Birkin, C Cupit, M Emmens, S Fawcett, D Higgon, M Roe, M Smith, K Tait and P Windley.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any items on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time. 

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no announcement from the Chair.

Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council, reported that it had been a busy time; there had been the Derbyshire County Council elections in May and he had met with Police and Crime Commissioner. Councillor Barker reported that he had attended the District Council Network Conference in Windsor, at which the main topic for discussion had been Local Government Reorganisation.  Cabinet had recently considered the end of year performance report on the Council Plan, which showed that the Council was delivering against its plan.  A few of the highlights included that the Housing Strategy Team had reduced the duration homeless applicants spent in temporary accommodation, continuing to improve housing stock with Rykneld Homes and the Community Safety Team continued to tackle anti-social behaviour with the Police and other organisation.    In respect of leisure, attendance was above target and Clay Cross Active would be opening soon.  Councillor N Barker thanked the Senior Management Team and all staff, for all their work in delivering the Council Plan.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 8 to allow members of the public to ask questions about the Council’s activities for a period up to fifteen minutes.  The replies to any such questions will be given by the appropriate Cabinet Member.  Questions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon twelve clear working days before the meeting.

No questions have been submitted under Procedure Rule No 8 for this meeting.

No questions from the public had been received.

To receive a verbal update from the Managing Director and Head of Paid Service.

The Managing Director gave an update on the latest position regarding Local Government Reorganisation, following previous reports to Council in January and March 2025. A brief background to the matter was provided and then the Managing Director gave an overview of the interim plans that had been submitted to the Government in March 2025. The feedback on the interim plan submissions had now been received. The interim plan feedback: Derbyshire and Derby had been circulated to all members, along with a summary of the feedback.

Two interim proposals had been submitted to Government.  These were the Derbyshire County Council proposal, which was for two unitary councils, with Derby City remaining as it was with a population of approximately 266,000, and the rest of Derbyshire with a population of approximately 811,000.  This proposal did not have the support of any other authority in Derbyshire.  The other proposal, put forward by the District, Borough and City Councils, was for two unitary councils but with populations closer to the guidance of 500,000. Amber Valley Borough Council had also submitted an outline proposal for a three-unitary option, but since further work had taken place, this proposal was unlikely to be pursued by Amber Valley. Derby City Council had written a letter of support for the two unitary option proposed by the District and Boroughs, but were at the time unable to be a signatory on the proposal.

It was noted that the feedback received was single feedback on all the proposals that had been submitted.  The Managing Director gave a summary of the feedback.

In terms of next steps, the District and Boroughs would continue to work on the two-unitary proposal (north and south), with further work on whether Amber Valley would be placed in the north, south or split.  A programme structure had been created by the district and boroughs to work up a full business case to be submitted by the 28 November 2025 deadline. It was anticipated that a decision would be made by Spring 2026, with a vesting date for the new authorities of May 2028.

Councillor N Barker reported that it was not easy work and the timescales were tight.  He praised the Managing Director, Director of Growth and Assets, and Director of Finance and Resources for their work and attitude towards this project.

Councillor A Dale asked if potentially splitting the Borough of Amber Valley would cause delays and also how the £7.6m was being spent. He also commented about the shadow elections, which may take place in 2027.  The Managing Director reported that current district and borough areas could be split, but yes it would take longer.  Further information on the funding was still awaited but it would be for the development of a business case and associated costs.  There was no further information on shadow elections as yet.

In response to a question from Councillor H Wetherall, the Managing Director clarified that the proposal needed to cover the whole of the County.

Councillor M Thacker MBE  ...  view the full minutes text for item COU/22/25-26

Councillor P Kerry introduced a report which set out the annual audit report in respect of 2023/24 which had been prepared by Forvis Mazars LLP.  The annual audit report was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report explained that the auditor’s annual report summarised the work undertaken by the Council’s external auditors, Forvis Mazars LLP, for the year ended 31 March 2024.  It provided an opinion on the financial statements, the Council’s value for money arrangements and any other wider reporting responsibilities.

RESOLVED – that the report from the Council’s External Auditors, Forvis Mazars, be noted.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 9.2 to allow Members to ask questions about Council activities.  The replies to any such questions will be given by the Chair of the Council or relevant Committee or the appropriate Cabinet Member.  Questions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon twelve clear working days before the meeting. 

Question ‘A’ – Proposed by Councillor R Shipman to Councillor S Pickering, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place

How many reports of fly tipping have been logged in North East Derbyshire and how of those have had fines issued?

The Chair confirmed that one question had been received.

Question A – Proposed by Councillor R Shipman to Councillor S Pickering, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place

How many reports of fly tipping have been logged in North East Derbyshire and how many of those have had fines issued?

Councillor S Pickering responded that the information he was about to provide had been taken from data that had been reported to Government for 2024/25. In that period, there had been 588 fly tipping incidents, out of which 87 had contained evidence and had been investigated.  There had been 5 prosecutions, 26 Fixed Penalty Notices issued and 3 failure to produce documents for business waste. 

Councillor R Shipman asked if for any of the 87 incidents investigated had the Council exercised the power to confiscate any vehicles.

Councillor S Pickering responded that of the 87 investigated not all had had evidence that was substantial enough to use. Where evidence had been recovered that could be used, there had either been prosecutions or Fixed Penalty Notices issued.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 10 to consider Motions on notice from Members.  Motions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon twelve clear working days before the meeting. 

No motions have been submitted under Procedure Rule No 9.2 for this meeting.

No Motions had been received.

To consider any other matter which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.