A Derbyshire town council which has moved a significant step closer to paying off a £400,000 loan following a critical financial report has been honoured with a prestigious award on its road to recovery.
Staveley Town Council announced on August 14 that its ongoing and improved governance and community engagement have been recognised with the National Association of Local Council’s Local Council Award Scheme’s bronze honour.
The Bronze Award, only superseded by a Silver and Gold Award, comes just over two years after an Improvement Board report identified in 2023 concerning financial shortfalls at the council and issued a series of recommendations for the council’s recovery.
Council Chairperson, Cllr Elaine Tidd, said: “I’m very pleased that the council has achieved this award. We’ve worked hard to improve things and this is proof that we are on the right track.
“The dedication of our Town Clerk and her team has made this possible and I would like to give my thanks to them all.”
Staveley Town Council received a Chesterfield Borough Council loan in February, 2023, to prevent bankruptcy and the two authorities with the Local Government Association and the 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.
The council acknowledged the 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 Sabrina Doherty’s work.
It 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 the town council has now reduced its debt by half with a number of money-saving measures.
The council has managed to make four repayments to the borough council in two years to pay off half of a £400,000 loan and plans are in place to keep making two payments a year to eventually pay off the whole debt including interest and it has also completed the last payment on a separate £75,000 loan to the borough council from 2020.
It has seen improvements with its finances, governance and operations, according to Ms Doherty, backed up by its internal audit check boxes after they had been wildly off track but they are now deemed to be healthy, structured, organised and controlled under a local council accounting system with budget monitoring.
An assistant clerk for communications and marketing at the town council is also helping to provide and disclose more website information online and on social media about the council’s finances to regain public trust and confidence and a display at an annual town assembly meeting showed its continuing progress from the 2024/25 financial period.
The Bronze Award – which is a peer-reviewed accreditation – recognises governance, community engagement, and service delivery and helps provide a framework for councils to keep improving and developing.
Staveley Town Council has been using the award scheme framework to improve its governance practices and develop its operations as part of its recovery programme following the publication of the Improvement Board’s investigation report in November, 2023.
The council has also recently been able to award over £34,000 of funding grants towards community groups and projects with contributions from Community Infrastructure Levies paid to the authority from developments in the area and from ‘Small’ and ‘Large’ funding pots as well as from a ‘Small+LB Solar Farm fund’ linked to solar farm projects.
NALC Chairperson, Keith Stevens, stated that the Bronze Award confirms that the council is now achieving good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement.
Staveley Town Council added that the award also shows that the council has gone above and beyond legal obligations by leading the community and continuously seeking opportunities to improve and develop even further.
A key feature of the award is openness and transparency which has also been recognised at the council with its new website providing reports and documents about its activities and finances.
Ms Doherty added: “I’m thrilled that we have achieved this award. It was hard work pulling it all together over the past year but I’m fortunate to be supported by a great team who all contributed.”
Staveley Town Council has now set its sights on the Silver Award as it aims to continue driving up standards and promoting best practice.
