More than 3,600 people who live or work in Derby and Derbyshire have already completed a survey to give their views on our proposals for simplifying the system, providing better value for council tax-payers and creating stronger communities.
This is in addition to the survey on a slightly different set of proposals from Derby City and local district and borough councils.
The government asked councils in areas where there are 2 layers of councils, known as ‘tiers’, to come up with proposals for moving to a single tier known as unitary councils – and there’s still time to comment on options we're proposing.
Derbyshire currently has a county council which looks after one set of services – including education, adults and children’s social care, waste disposal and road safety and maintenance – and district and borough councils which provide different services including social housing, homelessness, and leisure and waste collections in smaller areas.
Derby is single tier – one ‘unitary’ council providing all of these services in the city.
In order to put forward a proposal which best meets the needs of local people and businesses, we are asking residents in Derby and Derbyshire for their views about where they live and which option they prefer for combining councils in the area (except town and parish councils) into 2 unitary councils which look after all services for their area.
The options are:
Option A – 2 councils with Amber Valley in the north
Creating 2 new councils to replace the existing 10, with one covering the north and one covering the south. The boundary for each council would follow existing district boundaries with Amber Valley in the northern council area along with High Peak, Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover and Chesterfield.
Option B – 2 councils with Amber Valley in the south
Creating 2 new councils to replace the existing 10, with one covering the north and one covering the south. The boundary for each council would follow existing district boundaries with Amber Valley in the southern council area along with Erewash, South Derbyshire and Derby City.
Option C – 2 councils with a new boundary
Creating 2 new councils to replace the existing 10, with one covering the north and one covering the south. A new boundary would be created with parts of Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in the northern council area along with High Peak, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover and Chesterfield. Other parts of Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales would be included in the southern council area along with Erewash, South Derbyshire and Derby City.
To have your say fill in the questionnaire and please encourage friends and family to have their say too.
The closing date for completing the questionnaire is Tuesday 19 August 2025.
All responses to this questionnaire will be taken into account when putting together the final proposal to submit to the government in November 2025.
Feedback on all proposals is expected from the government in early 2026