Derbyshire County Council Draft Council Plan 2025-29 consultation

2nd October

 

Dear Partner/Stakeholder

Derbyshire County Council is currently developing a new Council Plan that will set out the direction and priorities for the next four years, reflecting the needs of Derbyshire residents.

Key elements of the Council Plan 2025-29 are now in draft form, and a six-week consultation has now been launched to gather feedback. As a key Partner/Stakeholder, we encourage you to share your views and help shape the plan before it is agreed.

This new draft plan is written with the backdrop of the well-documented financial challenges that continue to face this council and others across the country.

These are driven by increased demand for services, significantly higher costs due to inflation and a provider-driven market, especially in relation to commissioned external placements for social care.

The council has agreed a £66.6 million five-year savings programme but despite this, as a result of sustained increases in demand and costs, has needed to rely on its cash reserves to balance its budget over recent years.

Many services have changed and become more effective and efficient, but the council needs to do more to address the financial challenges and ensure the delivery of good outcomes for residents.

The draft plan sets out how we intend to do this, ensuring that we remain ambitious for our residents, communities and the county, whilst seeking to deliver on all fronts in a financially sustainable way.

You can access the Council Plan consultation questionnaire and supporting document here. The consultation closes on 3 November 2024.

Your feedback will directly contribute to the ongoing development of the new Council Plan 2025-29, and we will share how we’ve used the feedback in an online report after the consultation concludes.

We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.