18/07/2025
LONG video but fairly important for the direction of ALL our local council services
One Derbyshire, two councils: have your say on the future of local government
People across Derbyshire are being asked to have their say on how local council services are delivered in the future, as part of the biggest change to local government in 50 years.
A proposal drawn up by Derbyshire’s eight district and borough councils, together with Derby City Council, would see the 10 councils that provide services across the county replaced with two councils – one covering the north of the county, and one covering the south.
Now, people and organisations across Derbyshire are being asked for their views about the ‘One Derbyshire, two councils’ proposal as part of a public consultation running until 10 August 2025.
The decision to launch a local government reorganisation process was taken by central government, which wants to simplify how councils are organised across the whole of England and make them more efficient - reducing costs while delivering services that are better, and more joined-up.
The government asked local councils to work together to draw up initial proposals for their area and it is now time for local people to have their say, before proposals for Derbyshire are finalised and submitted to government later this year.
In places like Derbyshire, local services are currently delivered under what is known as a ‘two-tier’ council structure.
This means that some services are delivered by a borough or district council, and others are provided by Derbyshire County Council. Within Derbyshire, there is also Derby City Council which is a ‘unitary’ council providing all services to the communities it serves.
Between them, these councils are responsible for a vast range of local services. The county council provides services like social care for children and adults, education and transport, while district and borough councils are responsible for services such as bin collections, planning, and leisure centres. Derby City Council provides all of these council services to the communities it serves.
Under the proposal, two new councils would be created, each responsible for delivering all services in their local area – one in the north and one in the south.
There are three possible options for how the area currently covered by Amber Valley Borough Council could be included in the new structure: placed entirely in the northern council, entirely in the southern council, or with different parishes joining each of the two councils, depending on where they may best fit.
Early forecasts* suggest that this new structure of local government in Derbyshire could save between £56m and £93m over five years, through reduced duplication of services, fewer council buildings, fewer councillors and senior officers, and being able to achieve better economies of scale when buying and delivering services. However, at this stage the councils are rightfully cautious and careful in relation to financial projections, as there remains much to be assessed and understood as the local government reorganisation process progresses.
The views of people and organisations will feed into the development of final proposals, which must be considered by existing councils and submitted to Government by 28 November 2025.
Government will then review the proposals for Derbyshire, and for twenty other county areas across England, before making final decisions in the Summer of 2026. If the Government accepts the proposals for Derbyshire, elections for the new shadow authorities would take place in 2027 and new councils would start to operate by April 2028.
To find out more about local government reorganisation in Derbyshire and give your views in the consultation visit: bit.ly/Derbyshire-consultation The online questionnaire will take around 10 minutes to complete.
