A brief review of article highlights for this year…and some predictions for this coming year. Banwait loses his seat, and Labour lose control of the Council By May 2018, when the local […]
Since May 2018, there have been a number of reports presented to the Cabinet about gaps in the Council budget: 2018 / 19 – £21m gap ( £12m caused by the overspend […]
At the Executive Scrutiny Board last night ( 9th October), one of the many subjects on the agenda was “Improving Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Provision in Derby”. A comprehensive document which […]
The Council’s cross-party Executive Scrutiny Board robustly challenged the Council Cabinet’s position on the termination of the Sinfin Incincerator ( to be formally presented on the 10th October) “To defer any decision […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
At the first Full Council meeting of the new municipal year, and with a new administration in place, there was an opportunity for the conduct of the proceedings to be different – […]
At the Cabinet Meeting next week the new Conservative administration will present its proposed Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2019/2020 to 2022/2023. The plan reveals a significant gap between expected spend and […]
The new Conservative administration seems to be supporting and continuing the Library strategy with the imminent “transfer” of Allestree library. This is despite the evidence on the ground being that it is […]
The previous Labour Council’s rhetoric was that Libraries had to be reviewed and made ‘community managed’ due to the impact of Central Government cuts. They had no choice?! In the 12 July […]
Today, the ribbon was cut by the Deputy Mayor, Frank Harwood, at the formal opening of the first Community Managed Library, in Sinfin. The deal was formally signed by Derby City Council, […]
If you go into Derby’s first Community Managed Library in Sinfin, you won’t be served by Direct Help and Advice’s (DHA) volunteer staff, but by paid, Derby City Council, library managers. One […]
Derby City Council’s Acting Chief Executive, Christine Durrant, dropped a “bombshell” on the desk of the new Council leadership at the end of last week regarding the A52 road improvement scheme. “Very […]
Last night was Day 1 of the new Council administration. It formalised much of what had been discussed in the media in terms of who would run the Council, and who was […]
On Wednesday this week, the Conservative group should take up office as the new minority administration in Derby City Council. They will be supported by the Liberal Democrats and UKIP to secure […]
Derby City Council operates a very strict Data Protection policy in its libraries; it stipulates that volunteers have no access to the Library Management system. They are unable to view any personal […]
