New county council leader formally voted in

Sam Smith said he is "absolutely delighted" to be elected as leader

Sam Smith now stands among the youngest council leaders in the country, at 27 years old.

The Conservative councillor was formally voted in as leader of Nottinghamshire County Council on Thursday, taking over from former Mansfield MP Ben Bradley.

Speaking to the BBC, Smith insisted he is not a career politician.

"Absolutely not. I got involved in politics because I went to a school that was delivering a poor quality of education and the only reason I had to go to that school and couldn't go to the better school down the road was because of the catchment areas", he said.

Councillors voted to confirm Smith as leader at a meeting on Thursday

He said he started campaigning for a better quality of education when he was 13, before he was elected to Gedling Borough Council in 2019 and Nottinghamshire County Council in 2021.

Asked if he plans to stand for parliament in the future, he said "that's down to the electorate".

He added: "My job here now, right now, is to lead this county council and I will be focused purely on that between now and the [local] election, and post-election should the Conservatives win a majority."

He inherits a council which, like many local authorities, has forecasted multi-million pound gaps in its budget in the years ahead.

Smith said cabinet members are "looking at their departments" to find efficiencies but he anticipates they will be able to set a balanced budget for the next financial year, with further details expected in February.

He added that changes to employer national insurance contributions and an increase to the National Living Wage, announced at the UK budget in October, have added more than £30m of extra financial pressure.

He describes himself as a "low tax Conservative" but would not rule out increasing council tax next year.

He said: "All that is being worked through at the moment. We have to continue to be able to deliver good services that residents expect."

Local elections for Nottinghamshire County Council will take place next May

Before being elected as leader, Smith served as the council's cabinet member for education and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

A 2023 investigation - published before Smith became cabinet member - found "widespread failings" in the county's SEND services.

At the time, four out of five Nottinghamshire SEND children were waiting for longer than the 20-week target for an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan - a legal document detailing their needs.

Smith said he's "proud" of improvements he has overseen since, but accepted the council is still below the national average.

Figures from a recent council report show 36.3% of EHC plans issued between January and October 2024 were within the 20 week timeframe, up from 27.95% the year before.

Nationally, 50.3% of new EHC plans were issued within 20 weeks in 2023.

Smith said he's confident Nottinghamshire will be in line with the national average by the end of the current academic year.