A Derbyshire council chairperson has praised a Town Clerk for helping to stabilise a local authority’s financial position to such an extent that they have been able to recently award over £34,000 of funding grants towards worthy community groups and projects including a new village green.
Staveley Town Council sought to herald in a new era at the turn of 2023 and 2024 after a critical report had highlighted the council’s financial shortfalls over more than ten years between 2011 and 2022 while praising the authority’s relatively new and current Town Clerk Sabrina Doherty for her efforts to right the ship.
The extent of the town council’s debt led to Chesterfield Borough Council agreeing to a £400,000 loan in February, 2023, to prevent bankruptcy and the two authorities – together with the Local Government Association and National Association of Local Councils – appointed an investigative Improvement Board to establish the causes of the insolvency, monitor the town council’s progress and advise upon its future.
Staveley Town Council Chairperson Elaine Tidd said: “The council is really pleased to be able to offer this funding out to community projects which improve the area and enrich the lives of residents.
“The hard work of our Town Clerk over the past two years has meant that the council’s financial position is stabilised which now makes it possible for us to support the brilliant work of our community organisations.”
The 2011/12 to 2019/20 town council administration oversaw problems including HR issues, cost overspend, lost income, and lost grant opportunities which led to a structurally financially imbalanced council by the time of the 2019/20 election and subsequent insufficient action led to the authority’s financial failure, according to the board.
However, Staveley Town Council accepted the Improvement Board’s findings into its previous financial management including its operations, finances and governance arrangements between 2011 and 2022 and the board recognised councillors wanted to make the authority more effective and they praised the new and current Town Clerk as a more effective partnership between councillors and other authorities was encouraged.
The council successfully introduced a new financial system under the current clerk, according to the report, and it began following recommendations outlined by the board as well as reducing expenditure to pay off its debt.
And it has now been delighted and able to confirm the allocation of £34,493.50 from its Grants Applications 2025 Log for 11 community organisations and it is hoping to continue supporting other causes in the future.
Those to benefit from the latest funding boost include the following:
Woodthorpe Community Liaison Group with £25,080 to help cover costs for the creation of a village green;
ABC Nursery with £2,000 for the purchase of a summerhouse for use on Inkersall allotments;
St John Ambulance with £500 for training resources;
Hollingwood Residents Association with £500 for a Sunday Funday event in August, this year;
Inkersall Allotment Association with £420 for painting containers with murals for an art project;
Middlecroft Allotment Association with £400 for heating and lighting for a welfare cabin;
Speedwell Table Tennis Club with £1,004 for a Table Tennis Summer School during August to September, this year;
Chesterfield Canal Trust with £417.50 for items for the Hollingwood Hub;
Friends of Barrow Hill Primary Academy with £1,800 for coach trips to Skegness;
Inkersall Women’s Club with £372 for a Pantomime Group for a Bring a Friend Night, in November, this year;
Staveley Armed Forces Veterans Appreciation group with £2,000 for the Staveley Armed Forces Weekend, this year.
The council identified and allocated the funding contributions from Community Infrastructure Levies paid to the authority from new developments in the area to help fund infrastructure projects and from ‘Small’ and ‘Large’ funding pots as well as from a ‘Small+LB Solar Farm fund’ linked to solar farm projects.
Ms Tidd added: “Alongside this, the council is putting on a community programme to develop residents’ skills and enhance their health and wellbeing.
“We’ve also provided grant funding to bring the Citizens Advice Bureau into Staveley Hall so residents can access face to face services on Friday mornings. This has been fully booked every week since it started in April.”
