The Council’s Libraries Strategy has run aground! Despite overly positive rhetoric from Council Officers about how well the Libraries project is doing, the evidence does not bear this out at all. At […]
Libraries Strategy ; the floundering, failing policy and the forgotten Council staff who continue to wait for their future.
Derby Feste returns ; Fun, dance, acrobatics…and lots of colour
Sinfin Incinerator termination option : Victory for democracy and common sense
At last night’s Full Council meeting 2 motions were tabled, by Labour and UKIP, which called on the Council Cabinet to terminate the contract with Resource Recovery Solutions. the contractor for the […]
Sinfin Incinerator : The Conservative Council fail to seize the opportunity in the 1st major public test of the administration.
The latest opportunity to terminate the Sinfin Incinerator contract was defined, to the exact date ( 30 September 2018), nearly 9 years ago. It was not a surprise to anyone. The position […]
Labour leader Cllr Lisa Eldret hears of rats, flies, vile smells, noise, respiratory conditions, toxic emissions…around the Sinfin Incinerator plant.
As I reported last week in the article “Council has ‘right to terminate’ Sinfin ‘Incinerator’ contract on 1 October 2018. Time to be decisive!” the moment is fast approaching when Derby City Council […]
A52: There were clear warning signs of a massive overspend in January 2018. Why didn’t Council Officers spot it?
Of the total £14.9m budget for the A52 Improvement project, £9m was allocated for the main construction works, contracted to Galliford Try. Galliford was appointed in October 2017 with a view to […]
Council has ‘right to terminate’ Sinfin ‘Incinerator’ contract on 1 October 2018. Time to be decisive!
By the end of this month, the contractor for the Sinfin Incinerator (Sinfin Lane), Resource Receovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd (RRS) will have failed to have secured the Completion Certificate for the plant. […]
A52 ‘mess’; Cabinet report implies widespread incompetence leading to cost overruns and slippages
A report to be presented to the Cabinet next week on the A52 cost overrun and delays, makes enlightening reading. It is only an interim report, despite the expectation that, after 3 […]
One to watch! : Council Tax Support is not part of Universal Credit.
Universal Credit Full Service came into operation, in Derby from 11th July 2018 and is applicable, initially, to those making new claims, or changing circumstances. The remainder will be migrated across shortly […]
Derby’s re-established Citizens Advice Bureau – helping thousands of people across the City
2 years ago, Derby City Council cut the grants to local charities to zero. This left many organisations in the voluntary sector in a very precarious situation, including the Citizens Advice Bureau […]
Future of ‘The Hairy Dog’ depends on the Magistrates’ Court appeal
The proceedings against The Hairy Dog resulted from an “Application for a Review of the Premises Licence” under the Licensing Act 2003; this was brought by a Senior Environmental Health Officer employed […]
Council forecast £21m hit to finances this year (2018/19) – what happened to the ‘balanced budget’?
In January 2018, the previous Labour administration presented to Full Council a “balanced budget” for 2018/19, and 2019/20. This meant that in-year expenditure on all services, would be covered by available Government/Council […]
Senior Officers’ proposal to reduce beds in Council Children’s Homes – does not bear Scrutiny!
Council Officers are proposing a reconfiguration of the service provision for Derby City Council Children’s Homes. This will be presented to Cabinet today and was subject to a cross-Party Executive Scrutiny Board […]
Ex-Cllr Banwait withdraws complaint against Derby News – the facts speak for themselves.
On 19th June, Ranjit Banwait contacted IMPRESS ( press regulator) formally complaining about the article I’d written on 25th May – “Ranjit Banwait takes legal proceedings to over-turn election result” The article […]
Council’s new Delivery Plan more “vague and woolly” than “open and transparent”
Next week’s Cabinet meeting will receive the 2017/18 Derby City Council “Annual Performance Results” which will declare that 94% of the Council pledges were either “completed or ‘on track’” in that year. […]
Rolls-Royce war dead remembered, for the future, as OSCAR says farewell
Last year, on the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of the Rolls-Royce factory in Osmaston, a memorial was unveiled to remember the 23 people that lost their lives 75 years ago : […]
Homelessness and the disappearance of pubs explored in new Art exhibition.
Issues around Homelessness and the disappearance of pubs are the subjects of Artcore’s “Re-Imagining the City exhibition which opened last Thursday. 2 young artists, Jess Price, a recent graduate from the University […]
Deep Clean of the City starts, including the switch-on of the Market Place fountain.
One of the Conservative administration’s manifesto commitments was to do a Deep Clean of the City – today was the first day of that process. Mid-afternoon saw the turn on of the […]
Executive Scrutiny Board examines the £12m budget gap: a different way of planning, or a total surprise?
In a previous article “The £12m gap in next year’s Council budget is more concerning than the A52 overspend. The financial planning system is “out of control”.” I reported on the latest […]
The Council’s Executive Scrutiny Board should be wary of the “airbrushed” report on the Special Educational Needs statement conversion programme. “All that glitters is not gold”.
Tomorrow night, Council Officers will be presenting a report to the cross-Party Executive Scrutiny Board on “Transfers from Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)” which […]
