Help shape future direction of County Council by giving your views

A new plan has been drafted by Derbyshire County Council and residents are being encouraged to give their views and help to shape the future direction of the authority.

Every four years, a new document is developed and published by the authority, which sets out its direction and aims to reflect the needs of Derbyshire residents. That plan is then refreshed annually.

The new Council Plan for 2025-29 is now in draft form and a six-week consultation has was launched on Monday 23rd September to give Derbyshire residents, partners and stakeholders the chance to give their views and help to shape the plan before it is finalised early next year.

Along with other councils, Derbyshire County Council has faced challenges over the past few years. These include increased demand for services, significantly higher costs due to inflation and a provider-driven market, especially in relation to commissioned external placements for social care.

As a result of increased demand and costs, the council has relied on its cash reserves to balance its budget over recent years and agreed a £66.6 million five-year savings programme.

Many services have changed and become more effective and efficient, but the council needs to do more to address the financial challenges and ensure delivery of good outcomes for residents

The key outcomes of the draft plan are: 

• Empowered communities where people live safe, happy, healthy and independent lives
• Prosperous, green and sustainable places with opportunities for all 
• A resident-focused, efficient and effective organisation delivering value for money.

To deliver these outcomes a range of activities are planned over the coming years including:

• Enabling the best start in life by working with partners and key health services to enable families to thrive 
• Improving mental and physical health through preventative interventions and working in partnership to tackle the main risk factors of ill-health with a particular focus on tobacco control 
• Supporting people to live their best lives independently at home, connected to the community and local resources 
• Supporting financial wellbeing through helping families maximise their income 
• Supporting inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Derbyshire’s economy 
• Delivering sustainable travel and integrated transport across the county 
• Taking a leading role in addressing the effects of climate change and working towards achieving net zero emissions and enabling nature recovery 
• Driving a step change in recycling and environmental performance through a new long-term Waste Strategy 
• Delivering a new customer experience strategy and community engagement and consultation approaches to put customers and residents first, designing services based on experience and needs  
• Transformation of the way the council works to improve efficiency and effectiveness through digital innovation and service re-design 
• Reducing the council’s property portfolio so that it’s affordable, sustainable and meets the needs of service delivery. 

Residents taking part in the consultation will be asked to fill in a short questionnaire, commenting on key sections.

The key sections are:

• Vision and outcomes – the vision and set of outcomes outline what the council is aiming to achieve alongside partners for Derbyshire residents and communities over the next four years
• Strategic objectives – these set out the key areas of work the council must deliver in order to achieve the vision and outcomes
• Outcome Framework – these are a collection of wider measures that will be used to assess whether the council is achieving its outcomes over the four years of the Council Plan
• Principles – a new set of 10 principles developed to guide the council’s future ways of working
• Values – these outline how the council’s employees should act while undertaking their day-to-day work as they engage with residents, each other and partners
• Customer promises – the commitments the council makes to its customers about the level of service they can expect when interacting with the authority.

The Council Plan consultation questionnaire is available at derbyshire.gov.uk/council-plan-consultation and is made up of six main questions to reflect the key sections, with free text boxes for every question so that people can have their say on each one. There is also a general comment box at the end for any further comments on the overall Council Plan.

Derbyshire County Council Leader Councillor Barry Lewis said: “Our Council Plan is one of the most important pieces of work we do every year as it forms the bedrock of all that we plan to achieve, how we will achieve it and how our plans will benefit Derbyshire residents.

“Our vision for the forthcoming years is that we want to work together to improve lives across Derbyshire.

“We refresh it every year, and once every four years we develop a completely new plan and it’s really important we get the views of our residents and they work with us to help it take shape before it is agreed.

“This new plan is written with the backdrop of the well-documented challenges that continue to face the council and others across the country, with financial pressures and rising demand for crucial services continuing.

“However, we remain a well-run council and our strong forward-planning, forward-thinking approach and clear vision will ensure we remain ambitious for our residents, communities and the county and continue to deliver on all fronts.”

Derbyshire County Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Corporate Services and Budget Councillor Simon Spencer said: “We continue to work together to improve lives across Derbyshire and our residents are at the heart of all that we do, which is why it’s so important they work with us to form our direction for the next four years.

“We must ensure we have a plan that will enable local people to achieve their aspirations while also supporting each other within their communities, transform how we operate, become financially sustainable, use and build effective networks internally, with local people, with partners and with the government.

“We are confident we can do this and have set out how we intend to achieve it, ensuring thriving communities and delivering a better future for all our residents.”

While the focus of the consultation is an online questionnaire, paper copies and alternative versions and formats are also available on request, by emailing: haveyoursay @ derbyshire.gov.uk or calling the county council’s contact centre on 01629 533190. The closing date for the consultation is Friday 1st November 2024.