Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Eddie Bisknell
The Government has revealed the names for the new Derbyshire councils, which will be formed after the current 10 authorities are all scrapped.
A letter from the Government to the chief executives of all of the county and city’s 10 councils outlines the next steps to form the new north and south authorities to replace the existing system from April 2028.
It says the two authorities will be called Derbyshire North Council and Derbyshire South Council.
The letter, from Ruth Miller, co-deputy director of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), says “northern” and “southern” are not allowed in the new council names, nor is the word “city”, though this can be arranged at a later date.
South Derbyshire District Council is often referred to as South Derbyshire, which may be why “South Derbyshire Council” has not been selected, along with the existing North East Derbyshire District Council.
The letter details that councillors on the new authorities can choose to change the names of their new councils if they have the support of two-thirds of members.
These authorities are also allowed to use a name other than this legal title for “branding or local identity purposes”, the letter writes.
Elections for those new councils – to be shadow authorities until vesting day on April 1, 2028 – will take place in May next year.
The letter also confirms the number of councillors on each of the new authorities, with Derbyshire North Council to have 83 councillors and Derbyshire South Council to have 79 councillors.
This brings a total of 162 councillors, down from the existing 447 elected members.
Final steps are now being arranged before the legal order for the creation of the new councils is finalised in 2027, the letter writes, with joint committees to be formed for each authority in the meantime, made of existing members of the current councils.
The Derbyshire North committee will include six district councillors and six county councillors, while the Derbyshire South committee will comprise three district councillors, three county councillors and six city councillors.
Meanwhile, Derbyshire County Council’s chief executive, Neil Crittenden, will lead on implementation of the new councils, including splitting up services and staff, with his deputy in the north to be a district council management lead. In the south, this will be Derby City Council’s chief executive, Sam Dennis.
The Government has asked for suggestions for the proposed ward names and arrangements for the divisions within each council.
It confirms that Derbyshire will be receiving a total of £1.8 million for transition costs – £900,000 per new council – to fund early arrangements for children’s and adult social care, cyber security and IT equipment.
Councils had already been promised £150,000 extra per new council to help with social care arrangements in the interim setup period, but the Government says the distribution of this has not yet been decided.
The Government says when the order to create the councils comes into force next year, the current authorities will have to obtain explicit consent from the new authorities before entering into certain new contracts or asset disposals (buildings, land and equipment).
It says: “The purpose of the section 24 direction is to ensure new agreements will be in the best interests of the new councils or the residents of the area, and do not undermine or diminish the benefits or savings anticipated as a result of reorganisation, or which may have an effect on the financial position of the new councils.”
The north-south split of councils, agreed by the Government will see Amber Valley carved in two, with Belper, Denby, Duffield, Horsley, Horsley Woodhouse, Kedleston, Kilburn, Kirk Langley, Mackworth, Quarndon, Shipley and Smalley being pulled into the southern council, while all other areas of Amber Valley will be in the northern council.
Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak and North East Derbyshire councils abolished and, with the upper half of Amber Valley (21 parishes), will form the northern council.
Meanwhile, Derby, Erewash and South Derbyshire councils will be scrapped and will form the southern council with the lower half of Amber Valley (14 parishes).
