Derbyshire County Council considers ‘savings plans’ with potential cutbacks to meet forecast £37.8m budget shortfall

By Jon Cooper – Local Democracy Reporting Service

Cash-strapped Derbyshire County Council is once again planning to introduce significant ‘new savings plans’ with potential cutbacks expected across a number of areas to save millions of pounds to meet a forecast £37.8 million shortfall and to balance its budget for the 2026-27 financial year.

The council’s former Conservative administration before the May election had claimed it was on track to achieve over £31m of savings by the end of the 2024-25 financial year with tough cutbacks to manage a previously forecast budget deficit of over £39m for the 2024-25 financial year while identifying £18.6m of further necessary budget savings for the 2025-26 financial year to set a balanced budget.

Despite the new Reform UK-controlled council – elected in May – forecasting in October a promising net overspend of just over £1.3m against a Revenue Budget for the 2025-26 financial year of over £770.5m after the first quarter, it has now revealed its ongoing strategy will involve necessary ‘new savings plans’ for the 2026-27 financial year.

The ‘savings plans’, according to the council, could see a review of fee rates for home care, the closure of Glossop household waste recycling centre, changes to the community support beds system in care homes to reduce costs, more technology to support adult social care, and a service redesign with a ‘transformation’ department and the removal of long-term vacancies across corporate services.

Cllr John Lawson, Cabinet Member for Council Efficiency, said: “Since May we have thrown everything we’ve got at ensuring this council is running as efficiently as possible and that every pound is accounted for and spent wisely for the benefit of Derbyshire residents, with no wasteful spending.

“It is well-known that council budgets across the country, not just Derbyshire, are stretched, and the challenges of delivering quality services that people rely on remain.

“That’s why, although hard work has ensured the council is in a much stronger position than it has been, we are having to put new savings plans forward to ensure we balance the books.”

The council has once again claimed it is facing ‘economic uncertainty’ and ‘significant cost and demand pressures’ after a period of high inflation and the cost-of-living crisis with continuing increased demand for council services particularly in respect of social care with Children’s Social Care and to a lesser extent in Adult Social Care after the agreed closure and planned sale of nine care homes.

The council stated that the Quarter Two revenue monitoring forecast year-end position for 2025-26 is that there will be an overspend of £26.105m – 15per cent of the budget – for Children’s Social Care.

Adult Social Care is also forecasting a net overspend of £4.887m – one per cent of the budget – but the forecast overspend is to be largely offset, according to the council, by a forecast underspend of £26.553m against the Corporate Budgets.

Budget proposals approved for 2025-26 already included significant savings requirements across all departments with the funding of only essential or unavoidable service pressures and a limited use of reserves and an increase in council tax, and Derbyshire County Council has once again argued it is facing a number of factors beyond its control including pay and price inflation and rising demand and costs for services, particularly in adults and children’s social care.

It has a predicted shortfall in its budget for the 2026-27 financial year of £37.8m which has led to the latest proposed savings measures or planned cuts being put forward.

The council’s new proposals aim to deliver £22.4m of savings in 2026-27 to support meeting the forecast budget funding shortfall and it says the remaining shortfall will be made up from £2.5m of savings with changes to the way the council operates and with £12.9m to be saved from corporate budgets.

These new savings proposals follow a significant savings plan which has been running since 2024 to 2025, according to the council, which has so far delivered £70m of savings over the past two years.

The new budget saving proposals are due to be considered at a Cabinet meeting on January 9th and include the following: A review of fee rates for home care in consultation with the Derbyshire Home Care Association; The closure of Glossop household waste recycling centre, which requires significant investment to maintain; Changes to the community support beds system with improved length of stay and effectiveness will support more people to maximise their independence, reducing the costs of long-term care; A further rollout of technology and digital tools in adult social care to support people’s independence where appropriate; And a service redesign with the removal of long-term vacancies across corporate services with the introduction of its money-saving ‘transformation’ department.

The council says it is developing a plan for the ‘transformation’ of its operating model to ensure it works as effectively and efficiently as it can and it added that it is considering available opportunities to reduce costs through rationalisation and improvement.

This programme of change aims to save at least £19.2m and potentially up to £38.7m over a two-year period right up to the expected changes under Local Government Reorganisation, according to the council.

Cllr Lawson added: “The pressures in some areas, especially in children’s social care, are incredibly challenging, but careful planning across the council as a whole means we are looking to the future with confidence.

“This confidence has been boosted by the transformation programme which has already realised millions in savings.

“Despite the ongoing challenges, this programme is being significantly enhanced to make even more wide-ranging and sustainable changes over the next two years, leaving us in a stronger position for the implementation of Local Government Reorganisation in 2028.”

Derbyshire County Council has stated that if the proposed savings and efficiencies do not progress then alternative savings will need to be found by services in order to meet a legal obligation to set a balanced budget.

The council’s Resources Scrutiny Committee will also consider the new budget saving proposals on January 14th before providing feedback and a budget-setting report will then be considered by the Cabinet on January 29th before the matter goes to a Full Council meeting on February 11th.

If the council agrees to move forward with the proposals, some will be subject to further Cabinet reports and followed by appropriate public engagement or consultation before any final decisions such as the proposal affecting the Glossop Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Cllr Carol Wood, Cabinet Member for Net Zero and Environment, said: “Making sure this council is as efficient as it can be and that every pound of council tax-payers’ money is accounted for and spent wisely is our top priority.

“We’re scrutinising all of our services to ensure they give value for money and are delivering for our residents, as well as making sure there’s no wasteful spending on any projects or schemes, so that we can ensure the council is financially sound.

“With considerable investment needed at Glossop Household Waste Recycling Centre to make it fit for the future, coupled with the fact that it’s the least used of all of our recycling centres and is being used predominantly by people who do not live in Derbyshire and so do not pay their council tax here, it’s important that we look at all the options.

“This includes whether there’s a different way to provide the service or whether the service is still needed at all.”