Single council for Derbyshire plan put forward

Derbyshire County Council leader Alan Graves has changed course on local government re-organisation

A surprise plan to create one local authority to run services for over a million people in Derby and Derbyshire has been published by the county council's Reform UK administration.

Local government in England is being streamlined by merging councils, with authorities currently sending their proposals to central government.

Derby City Council has joined the county's eight districts and boroughs to suggest forming two new councils, one for North Derbyshire and another for the south.

Derbyshire County Council had been expected to publish a similar plan but has instead suggested a single unitary authority that would be one of the biggest in Europe.

Government guidelines for creating new merged local authorities say they should aim to create councils which serve about 500,000 people.

A new combined Derby and Derbyshire Council would be responsible for 1,078,000 people

Reform UK says a much larger unified Derbyshire would be supported by residents and financially strong.

'Makes sense'

Derbyshire County Council's Reform UK leader Alan Graves had indicated in the past he would accept a version of a north-south Derbyshire split so this represents a big change of direction from the party.

He said: "I had a very clear idea when I started that we would have two unitary authorities but when you look at the financial figures, when you look at the views of the public, it made sense to have one unitary authority."

Two main options are expected to be agreed by all the local authorities aside from the county council.

The first would have Amber Valley Borough Council merged into a new North Derbyshire Council, while the second would see it put in the southern section.

Variations of both plans that split Amber Valley up between north and south have also been put forward.

However the public has not backed any of the proposals. A recent consultation found the idea of merging councils in the county had failed to win widespread support.

A final submission to government will be made on 28 November for a decision from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The existing councils would be scrapped and replaced with larger authorities in 2028.

Reform UK's late switch to a radical alternative will complicate that decision even though the proposal goes against much of the guidance councils were given on how to make their plans.

Alan Graves admitted the plan for a unified Derbyshire had elements that were different from what the government wanted but said he was offering ministers a choice.

"There is a solution for them to look at," he said. "There's a serious solution that will solve a lot of problems and I actually think they will give that some serious consideration."