The Cabinet of Derbyshire County Council met on Thursday, 9 April 2026, to discuss a range of important issues, including the potential closure of a household waste recycling centre, a significant cloud migration project, and plans for early years development. The meeting also covered the council's property asset management strategy and the monitoring of its capital budget.

Consultation on the Proposal to Close Glossop Household Waste Recycling Centre

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to a report concerning the potential closure of the Glossop Household Waste Recycling Centre. The report highlighted that Glossop is the least-used facility of its kind in the county, handling significantly lower waste volumes and receiving fewer visits from Derbyshire residents compared to other sites. It also noted that the centre requires approximately £0.5 million in essential capital works to remain operational and represents the least financially efficient facility in the network. The closure of Glossop HWRC was proposed as a measure to achieve a fixed annual saving of £0.360 million, contributing to the council's required savings target. The report outlined plans for a 12-week public consultation to gather views on the potential closure and its impacts, including travel, convenience, equity, and environmental effects. Alternative cost-saving options, such as reduced opening hours or days, were also to be explored during the consultation, though none were expected to deliver savings comparable to full closure. The consultation was scheduled to commence on 24 April 2026.

Update on the Cloud Strategy and Cloud Migration Programme

The Cabinet received an update on the council's ongoing transition to a cloud-first approach for its digital infrastructure. The report detailed plans to use capital funds of £0.95 million to procure a cloud implementation partner. This partner would be responsible for building the cloud infrastructure and migrating all remaining council applications and on-site data from the physical datacentre at County Hall into the Microsoft Azure Cloud. The report outlined the business case for this migration, citing risks associated with the aging on-premises infrastructure, including the impending closure of Shand House, obsolescence of physical hardware, single points of failure, and inadequate disaster recovery capabilities. The migration aims to enhance operational resilience, security, flexibility, and scalability, while also offering potential cost efficiencies. The project is classified as Category A by the Portfolio Management Office, indicating its high priority.

Best Start in Life Local Plan and Additional Funding for Best Start Family Hubs Implementation

The meeting addressed the development of Derbyshire's Best Start in Life Local Plan, which aligns with the government's strategy for improving outcomes from pregnancy to the end of the Reception Year. Derbyshire has been allocated £4.329 million in funding for the development and delivery of Best Start Family Hubs. The plan focuses on four key priorities: improving access to and quality of early years provision, developing a network of Best Start Family Hubs to coordinate services, creating a system-wide Early Years Strategy, and increasing support for parents. The report noted that the government's national target is for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD) by 2028, with Derbyshire's local target set at 75.8%. The plan aims to address local challenges such as deprivation, adverse childhood experiences, and fragmented services.

Children's Services Section 106 Allocations

A report was presented detailing the receipt of Section 106 developer contributions and seeking approval for their allocation to specific projects within Children's Services. These contributions, totalling £392,181.11, are intended to fund new projects and repay the Children's Services Capital budget. The proposed allocations include remodelling toilets and cloakrooms at Darley Church Town to accommodate additional pupils, creating an outdoor classroom at Doveridge Primary School, and contributing to the replacement of a temporary classroom block at Chinley Primary School. A portion of the funds will also be used to repay the Children's Services Capital budget for projects at Leys Junior School and Willington Primary School.

Property Asset Management Strategy 2026-2029

The Cabinet was asked to approve the Property Asset Management Strategy 2026–2029. This strategy outlines the council's approach to managing its land and property assets over the next three years, aiming to ensure the estate is optimised, affordable, and aligned with service delivery needs and wider council priorities. The council manages a diverse estate comprising over 1,200 sites and more than 4,000 individual assets, with an aggregate book value of approximately £2.56 billion. The strategy focuses on five objectives: ensuring the right buildings are in the right place for service delivery, creating flexible and efficient spaces, maximising value for money, strengthening partnerships for co-location, and future-proofing the estate for extreme weather and cleaner energy use. The strategy supports the council's commitment to a Corporate Landlord approach, centralising property decision-making and responsibility.

Capital Budget Monitoring and Forecast as at Quarter 3 2025-26

The meeting received an update on the council's capital programme spend and forecast outturn for the 2025-26 financial year as at 31 December 2025. The report indicated an overall projected underspend of £10.002 million across the entire capital programme, which has a total budget of £789.823 million over its life. Significant projected underspends were noted within Adult Social Care & Health (£1.55 million), Children's Services (£2.442 million), Corporate Services & Transformation (£2.340 million), and Place projects (£2.645 million). The report detailed major schemes within each directorate, including the Belper Integrated Specialist Facilities Centre, Alfreton Park new school, the Smedley's Hydro Project, and the New Waste Treatment Facility in Derby. The Local Transport Plan, including pothole repairs, remained a significant area of expenditure.

Exempt Items

The agenda also included several exempt items, which were to be discussed with the public excluded from the meeting. These included the approval of exempt minutes from a previous meeting, modifications to contracts for garden waste reception and treatment, and the provision of household waste recycling centre management services. Additionally, discussions were scheduled regarding the Agenda for Change policy and payments for 2026-27.