The plan is reviewed and updated annually to make sure it continues to reflect our ambitions and priorities, and to report on our progress in delivering the commitments set out in the plan.
The continued increase in demand for services, rising inflation and costs of living alongside reducing budgets makes providing the services local people need and want within the available resources, incredibly challenging.
The plan acknowledges these challenges and also reflects the future aspirations we have for Derbyshire. These include:
Refreshing our Council Plan is important because it’s our blueprint for the year ahead. It helps us to recognise and appraise the achievements of the last 12 months as well as giving us the opportunity to reassess and reshape our priorities where needed, ensuring we have strong, clear objectives in place.
Having a robust plan which sets out what we want to achieve and how we intend to do it is essential, not only for us as a council, but for Derbyshire residents too.
We want our residents to feel assured that we are working hard for them, and that at the heart of all we do is a drive and determination to get things right, supporting individuals, families, communities and businesses at every given opportunity.
In refreshing the Council Plan we identify the challenges ahead and ensure we are prepared, with planned, clear strategies and plans in place. And it also means we can identify future opportunities so that we are ready to take advantage of them and can demonstrate our ambitions for our residents and the county as a whole.
There is no doubt looking ahead that there will be many challenges facing the council, and these will centre mainly on budget pressures due to factors outside our control.
We have always been and remain a well-run, responsible, enterprising and financially stable council, but like councils up and down the country we must acknowledge the forces beyond our control which will make this year and future years difficult, and we anticipate tough decisions will need to be made down the line.
These external forces include inflation, rising fuel and energy costs and a continuing increase in demand for adult social care and children’s services.
Being aware of the challenges and pressures ahead makes us more determined than ever to ensure we are working as efficiently and effectively as we possibly can, finding savings where we can and ensuring everything we do offers the best value for money.
While it is difficult for us as a council, we recognise the pressure on Derbyshire households and businesses brought about by the cost of living rises.
Our work around providing warm, safe spaces in our buildings and providing grants to help voluntary, community and charity organisations to support their communities has been welcomed, and we will continue to do what we can to ensure support gets to those who need it most during challenging times.
Although budget pressures will loom large over our activities in the coming 12 months and beyond, we will ensure as an enterprising council, that no opportunities are missed, and will continue to work closely with all our partners to achieve the goals we know will improve the lives of residents, communities and our local economy.
One issue that is likely to dominate in a positive way, certainly over the course of this Plan, is devolution, with a deal worth over £1 billion to our region over the next 30 years.
Devolution would bring more and better jobs and opportunities for training, improve the local economy, result in better transport and housing and accelerate our route to Net Zero. It’s an opportunity not to be missed and we are doing all we can in close partnership to make this happen.
We continue to be extremely proud of all that we do and are confident our refreshed Council Plan sets out a clear direction for the future. This planning and focus will ensure we continue delivering the best we can for Derbyshire.