Derbyshire County Council Leader Labels Funding Exclusion ‘Short-Sighted’

The leader of Derbyshire County Council has characterized the government’s decision to exclude the council from a share of additional funding for struggling local authorities as “short-sighted” and “unfair”. While Derby City Council qualified for this funding, Derbyshire County Council did not, despite its Conservative leader Barry Lewis asserting that its challenges are comparable. The Labour government announced a new one-off £600m Recovery Grant last month, presented as part of an “overhaul” of local government funding. The government stated that this initiative “will increase the efficiency of our funding by targeting money towards areas with greater need and demand for services, and less ability to raise income locally”. This context includes the fact that 70% of Derby City Council’s housing stock falls into lower council tax bands, resulting in reduced income from council tax. For Derbyshire County Council, this figure stands at approximately 60%. Nadine Peatfield, the Labour leader of Derby City Council, commended the government’s choice to allocate a portion of the grant to the authority, describing it as integral to a “positive settlement” for the council’s upcoming budget. She informed the BBC that the funding would enable the council to “start to rebuild” and would be partially utilized to replenish the authority’s reserves, which are currently below the recommended level. Although councils will not receive official notification of their exact funding amounts for the next financial year until next week, those that qualify for the grant, such as Derby City, have already been informed. Derbyshire County Council is currently facing an overspend of about £28m, while the city council’s budget gap is roughly £22m. Barry Lewis conveyed to the BBC his “extreme disappointment that Derbyshire has been overlooked for any share.” He added, “Any extra funding at all to help us to meet these pressures is welcome.” Lewis further stated, “While I appreciate the Recovery Fund is targeted at deprived areas there is little or no acknowledgment that all councils are facing the same pressures and this surely cannot be the fairest way to distribute this much-needed extra money. The cost of delivering rural services is higher and we have significant pockets of deprivation in our market towns and villages and this isn’t being recognised. It is disappointing, unfair and short-sighted.” A government spokesperson responded by saying: “Our £600m Recovery Grant will help us get areas facing the greatest need and demand for services on a more stable footing.” The spokesperson also confirmed, “We will provide further information on the councils who are in scope of the grant later this month and this will form part of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement consultation in the usual way.”