Those people who packed the Council House gallery, yesterday evening, were the only public witnesses of the most bizarre episode in Derby City Council’s history. Unusually there was no live streaming of the event, and no cameras allowed, to give wider publication of the meeting to unseat the Leader of the Council, Cllr Baggy Shanker.

There was some expectation that the “mover” of the motion Cllr Steve Hassall (Tory Leader) and his “seconder” Cllr Alan Graves (Reform) would reveal a well-argued rationale for this significant action. What transpired was the opposite. Their entire argument was centred around why Cllr Shanker did not make public an invoice for £93.9m ( re: Sinfin Incinerator), issued by Derbyshire County Council; an invoice that even the Council’s external auditors did not give credence to.

Derby City Council Opposition Leaders jeopardise City’s finances over Sinfin Incinerator project “invoice”

Derbyshire County Council blocks disclosure of “commercial” Sinfin Incinerator project charges made to Derby City Council.

Like pantomime villains, Cllrs Hassall and Graves tried to “scare” Cllrs, and the public, into thinking that this invoice was an “unexploded bomb” that it would destroy the Council’s finances. Graves tried to suggest that, as the invoice was not revealed at the budget setting meeting, it might render the Council’s budget – “illegal” ; the Council’s Chief Finance Officer was invited to comment and she was clear that the Council’s Budget was legal, and that she had sought external auditor advice. Graves then backed off.

All 50 Councillors ( 1 absentee) were briefed, prior to the meeting, of the detailed timeline. They were all advised that Cllr Shanker had acted within the terms of the contract with Derbyshire County Council, had followed Senior Officer advice, and that that advice would have been the same, regardless of who the Leader of the Council was.

Ex-Leader, Cllr Poulter, who is one of the few Cllrs with detailed knowledge of the confidential history of the plant and the contract, focussed on the time taken by Cllr Shanker in signing the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA3 – agreement between Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council). Shanker explained that the document was in excess of 400 pages long and he wanted to read it prior to giving his authority to Officers to sign it; that document was signed prior to the deadline of October 2024. Derbyshire County Council have still not signed it.

Many of the speeches from the Labour group referred to the General Election and that the timing of this vote was “political”, given that Shanker is standing for MP in Derby South together with the seconder of the motion, Cllr Alan Graves, and Tory Cllr Mulhall.

An amendment to the motion was put forward by Labour to defer the vote until 17 July 2024, following the establishment of a cross-party working group to understand, in detail, the facts of the situation and for a considered opinion to be formed on the vote of no confidence. There was a vote; it was a tie 25:25 and the Mayor cast his 2nd vote to reject the amendment.

The vote on the main motion followed the same pattern – it was tied 25:25 and the Mayor, Cllr Ged Potter, cast his 2nd vote to remove Shanker from office.

Labour has 23 seats of the 51 seat Council; voting on party lines would have resulted in a clear majority in favour of the motion. As Cllr Kus was absent, and 2 Lib Dem Cllrs Care and Lonsdale voted against the motion it was a tie 25:25, including the vote of the Mayor. Constitutionally, with a tie, the Mayor has a 2nd, casting, vote. It is a moot point whether, in this circumstance, the Mayor should have voted for the status quo.

The next agenda item was to vote for the new Leader. Cllr Shanker, nominated his Deputy, Cllr Nadine Peatfield; this was uncontested. Peatfield is the new Leader of the Council – the Labour Group remain in control of Derby City Council.

Opinion

Apart from Cllrs Hassall and Graves, only 4 of the 25 people who voted to remove Shanker stood up and spoke. Conversely 15 people declared their confidence in the Leader, publicly.

Those that spoke, to remove Shanker, provided no coherent insight into their concerns, other than that they were personally affronted that a phantom invoice was not made public in January 2024 rather than May 2024. They didn’t reveal how they would have managed the negative consequences of such a public disclosure – that would have been true leadership.

The irony is that the actions of Cllrs Hassall and Graves, and the other 23 people who voted for the motion, reinforces the position of the Council’s Senior Officers, that most Cllrs can’t be trusted with complex and confidential issues. Any common sense person would have known from the outset that the invoice was a desperate stunt by the County Council to cover up the black hole in their finances and should have been dismissed.

There was a view that the strategy of the Opposition was to make a bid for the leadership and to take control of the Council following the vote. But, like the “dog that caught up with the car” – they didn’t know what to do next – sitting dumb, on their hands, waiting for someone else to take responsibility.

What has this all achieved?

Nothing.

Derby City Council is still run by the Labour Group albeit led by Cllr Peatfield – Shanker’s deputy.

It has highlighted the level of toxicity within the 51 Councillors and the extent to which some are prepared to go to further a simple, and transparent, political motive. It also highlights how many Cllrs have no passion, personal commitment or accountability for their own opinions to actually stand up publicly and explain themselves. It also shows the lack of understanding within the Opposition leadership and their inability to, professionally, oppose – something which is critical for a functioning democracy.

A sad day for Derby City Council