The Resources Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to discuss the preparation of the 2026/27 budget, the council's talent strategy, and the local government reform timeline and process. As only the agenda and report pack are available, it is not possible to state whether any decisions were made, or whether any topics were discussed beyond those listed in the agenda.

2026/27 Budget Preparation

The committee was scheduled to discuss the preparation of the council's revenue budget for 2026/27. The report pack included details of the process for preparing the budget and the proposed consultation approach.

The report noted that the council's budget for 2025/26 was set against a backdrop of continuing significant budget pressures caused by inflation and rising demand for services. Despite these challenges, the council was forecasting a small overspend of £1.383m for the year. Cost pressures were expected to continue into 2026/27, particularly in the area of social care for both children and adults. The rise in the National Living Wage¹ and employer's National Insurance contributions were expected to put further pressure on adult social care costs. Increasing demand for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services was also expected to increase costs for home to school transport.

The report pack also summarised key announcements from the Autumn Budget 2025 that were relevant to local government:

• A £600m Recovery Grant would remain in place, targeting funding at low taxbase/high deprivation authorities, but Derbyshire County Council would not receive any of this grant.
• The 'Remoteness' factor had been removed from all Area Cost Adjustment calculations except for Adult Social Care.
• The distance cap for Home to School transport for children with SEND had been raised to 50 miles.
• Council Tax referendum principles for councils would remain unchanged.
• The 2026 Business Rates Revaluation would come into effect from 1 April 2026.
• A 0.5% cut to all Department Expenditure Limits (DEL)² would be applied across Government budgets in 2028-29, 2029-30 and 2030-31.

The report pack detailed a proposed timetable for the 2026-27 budget preparation, including consultation with stakeholders. As part of the pre-budget engagement, the council launched the annual Your Council, Your Voice Survey on 6 June 2025, which ended on 10 August 2025. The survey asked residents for their views on a range of options to save money or generate extra revenue. The council also planned to consult with business ratepayers, trade unions, and the Resources Scrutiny Committee.

The report pack stated that work was underway to ensure that budget proposals aligned with the outcomes and strategic objectives in the new Council Plan, which was scheduled to be agreed alongside the budget at full Council in February 2026. The council's Five-Year Financial Plan 2026-27 to 2030-31 (FYFP) was also being updated to reflect the Government's Autumn Budget, Policy Statement, and the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.

The committee was asked to note the timetable for completion of the 2026-27 budget, the commencement of pre-budget engagement activities, and the key announcements in the Autumn Budget 2025 relevant to local government.

Talent Strategy

The Resources Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the council's talent strategy, following a previous meeting in September. The update covered progress in launching new apprenticeships in September 2026 and recruiting external apprentices.

The report pack noted that Derbyshire County Council is subject to the Apprenticeship Levy, a government initiative requiring employers with a pay bill over £3 million to contribute 0.5% of their total national insurance pay bill into a digital account for apprenticeship training. The government adds a 10% top-up to encourage usage and flexibility. The council currently utilises the levy, but there are opportunities to increase its use. The council aspired to align with the public sector apprentices starts per year target of 2.3% of headcount (230). The council was currently at 1.01% of headcount in 2024.

The report pack stated that there was major reform of how apprenticeships are funded and structured, which would replace the apprenticeship levy with a new Growth and Skills levy. The Growth and Skills levy would enable organisations to utilise the levy for both long and short term apprenticeships lasting a minimum of 8 months, shorter more targeted training, and provide more focus on creating opportunities for young people.

The report pack listed actions to support the council to utilise a wider proportion of its apprenticeship levy and create more opportunities for young people in Derbyshire. As an Organisational Development team, the council had worked with HR colleagues and departments and was in the process of securing commitments to recruit apprentices as part of a September 2026 cohort. Potential opportunities were being explored in the following areas:

• Childrens Services (Catering, SORE (Outdoor learning))
• Corporate Services and Transformation (Business Services, Customer (Call Derbyshire), Digital)
• Place (Highways)
• Adult Social Care & Health (Adult Care Workers)

The council was aiming to recruit around 20 new apprentices as part of this campaign. A recruitment campaign for the new apprenticeship positions was planned as part of National Apprenticeship week from 9th – 15th February 2026.

The council had also launched an internal Data Technician apprenticeship working with Multiverse to enhance the digital skills of Digital Champions across the council, with 25 colleagues signed up to complete this. This equated to a new spend of approximately £300,000 of apprentice levy. Work had also started on developing a new apprenticeship dashboard to manage spend against the apprenticeship levy more effectively.

The committee was asked to note the current position and update in relation to the apprenticeship level and to agree whether a further report and update on the strategy was required at the committee meeting in March 2026.

Local Government Reform Timeline & Process

The agenda for the meeting included an item to discuss the local government reform timeline and process, but no further details were provided in the report pack.