This week in Derbyshire:

• The Regulatory - Planning Committee meeting was cancelled.
• The Recruitment Panel meeting was also cancelled.
• The Cabinet was scheduled to discuss funding for children with complex needs, SEND¹ capital budget allocations, and the corporate complaints policy.

Cabinet - Thursday 10 April 2025

The Derbyshire County Council cabinet was scheduled to discuss a range of issues, including complaints policy, funding for children with complex needs, and capital budget allocations for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They were also scheduled to review the annual reports and accounts of the Chesterfield Schools Foundation.

SEND Capital Budget Allocations

The cabinet was scheduled to consider the allocation of funds from the Children's Services SEND High Needs Capital budget for several projects. A total of £6,612,224 was to be allocated towards the first phase of special school expansion and £7,000,000 towards increasing the inclusive capacity of mainstream settings.

The projects included:

• Holbrook School for Autism (The Whitemoor Centre): A three-phase approval was sought for £5,712,224 to complete the project, which aims to create 2 additional pupil places and provide provision for pupils with both ASD² and severe learning difficulties. > The scheme included adaptations to the existing buildings, the provision of suitable outdoor facilities and specialist equipment.
• Alfreton Park Special School: An additional £500,000 was requested to complete the project, which involves providing a three-classroom modular building and a one-classroom vocational learning space to accommodate additional pupils.
• The Hunloke Education Centre: An initial £400,000 was requested to enable feasibility work for the project, which involves the lease of the vacated Hunloke Education Centre for the provision of a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)³. > This project will allow for internal re-modelling and external alterations to the building, to provide safe and secure accommodation for specialist provision in which to accommodate pupils, with the objective of reintegration into mainstream school.
• Derbyshire Education Partnership Board: Approval was sought for the allocation of £7 million to support the increasing demand for alternative specialist provision for pupils in Derbyshire. > The funds would be utilised in provision of alternative specialist mainstream Provision within schools, Enhanced Resource Schools (ERS) and SEND Units across Derbyshire.

The allocation of the £7 million for mainstream provision to specific projects was to be delegated to a panel of senior officers and members of the Education Partnership Board, in consultation with Councillor Alex Dale, Cabinet Member for Education.

Section 75 Agreement

The cabinet was scheduled to discuss the renewal of a Section 75 agreement⁴ with a pooled budget between Derbyshire County Council and the Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (DDICB). The agreement aims to provide and fund support packages for children and young people with complex needs.

The report pack noted that such joint working arrangements are formalised under Section 75 of the NHS Act 2006, which allows agreements to be made between partners that set out arrangements for pooling resources and delegating certain NHS and local authority functions to the other partner(s).

The current pooled budget for the 2024/25 financial year is £7.2 million, divided between the DDICB, Special Educational Needs, and Social Care.

The cabinet was asked to approve entering into an agreement confirming that the parties will continue to cooperate upon the terms of the most recent section 75 agreement, and to delegate to the Strategic Director for Children’s Services the authority to agree any further extensions to the agreement for periods up to a maximum of a further two years.

Corporate Complaints Policy

The cabinet was scheduled to consider the implementation of a revised Corporate Complaints Policy and accompanying Unreasonably Persistent Contact and Unreasonable Behaviour Procedure.

The current policy and procedure have been revised to ensure alignment with the new Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) complaints handling code and to address recommendations within the audit services customer complaints review dated April 2024.

The refreshed corporate compliments and complaints policy ensures alignment with the expectations of the complaint handling code, setting an expectation that there is a clearly defined two-stage process within the corporate complaints policy.

The refreshed procedure focuses on all communications with the council and not solely at the point an individual raises a complaint, ensuring that individuals are treated fairly and consistently and that all communication needs and reasonable adaptions have been considered.

Chesterfield Schools Foundation

The cabinet was scheduled to approve the annual reports and accounts of the Chesterfield Schools Foundation for 2023/2024. The Chesterfield Schools Foundation is a charitable trust governed by the provisions of a Charity Commission Scheme dated 31 July 2002. Derbyshire County Council is the sole trustee of the charity.

As a registered charity with a gross annual income of over £25,000 for the financial year 2023/2024, the Charity is required to submit annual returns to the Charity Commission, together with a trustee annual report, accounts and an independent examiner’s report.

The Regulatory - Planning Committee met on Monday 15 July 2024. There was no video provided for this meeting. You may recall from previous emails that Planning Committees are responsible for making decisions on planning applications. These are applications by companies and individuals to build new structures, change the use of land and buildings, and make changes to protected buildings¹. Planning law in England and Wales is complex, but the key legislation is contained within the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The Appointments and Conditions of Service Committee met on Monday 15 July 2024. There was no video provided for this meeting. Appointments and Conditions of Service Committees are responsible for setting the pay and conditions of council employees, and for ensuring that the council complies with employment law.

The Audit Committee met on Tuesday 16 July 2024. There was no video provided for this meeting. Audit Committees scrutinse the council's finances and hold them to account for their management of public money. They are also responsible for ensuring that the council has effective arrangements in place to prevent and detect fraud.

The Pensions and Investments Committee met on Wednesday 17 July 2024. There was no video provided for this meeting. Pensions and Investments Committees manage the council's pension fund. The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a defined benefit public sector occupational pension scheme in the United Kingdom. It is available to most people employed by local authorities. This includes teachers, police (except in Scotland) and firefighters. In some cases, other employers can arrange for their staff to join the LGPS - for example, if they are employed by a company set up by a local authority.

The Council meeting scheduled for Thursday 18 July 2024 was postponed. The Council subsequently met on Thursday 18 July 2024. There was no video provided for this meeting. Council meetings are where key decisions are made about the council's budget, policies, and priorities. They are also an opportunity for councillors to hold the council's leadership to account.

The Improvement and Scrutiny Committee - Resources of Derbyshire County Council met on Thursday 27 June 2024. The committee discussed several significant issues, including the potential closure of council-operated care homes, the strategic approach to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), and trade union time off.

During the meeting, a member of the public, D Ingham, raised a question regarding the council's plans for care homes in Derbyshire. They highlighted a discrepancy between the council's earlier statement in January, which indicated no plans to reduce care homes, and a subsequent proposal in April suggesting the closure of up to eleven homes to achieve budget savings of £5.209 million. Council officers clarified that the initial savings proposal was focused on reducing service volume and remodelling the care home offer rather than closing specific homes. They explained that further analysis revealed sufficient capacity within the Derbyshire care home market, prompting the proposal to rationalise council-operated homes and prioritise specialist dementia care. This issue has sparked significant public interest, as the potential closure of care homes directly impacts some of the most vulnerable members of the community.

The committee also received an update on the proposed EDI Statement and Equality Objectives. Wes Downes, Policy Manager, and Sally Pearson, Head of Learning and Development, presented the key findings from the public consultation, which took place between 28 February and 13 March 2024. The consultation garnered around 100 responses, mostly from council employees. The feedback indicated a high level of agreement with both the EDI statement and the objectives. Based on the feedback, the EDI Statement was revised to explicitly state the council's commitment to both its colleagues and the community.

The committee also discussed trade union time off within Derbyshire County Council. The council currently adheres to the ACAS Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities. The recognition agreement with Unison, Unite, and GMB, which includes provisions for trade union time off, is currently under review. Initial amendments have been shared with the unions, and further discussions are planned. This topic is of particular interest as it pertains to the relationship between the council and its employees, who are represented by trade unions.

The Improvement and Scrutiny Committee - People met on Wednesday 26 June 2024. There was no video provided for this meeting.