The Resources Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the 2026/27 budget, the council's talent strategy, and the local government reform timeline. The meeting will be held at County Hall, Matlock and members of the public are permitted to ask questions.

2026/27 Budget

The committee is scheduled to discuss the preparation of the 2026/27 budget. The report pack includes a proposed timetable for the budget's completion, including arrangements for consulting with stakeholders and assessing the need for a full equality impact assessment¹ on budget saving proposals. The report from the Director of Finance also provides an initial summary of the Chancellor's Autumn Budget and its potential impact on the council's financial position.

The council is forecasting a small net overspend of £1.383m for 2025-26, with savings delivery on track in most areas. Continuing demand and cost pressures, particularly in Children's Social Care services, are contributing to the forecast overspend. Additional expenditure is expected on placements in Children's Social Care, Special Educational Needs (SEN), and Home to School Transport, driven by the increasing number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). This overspend is offset by a forecast underspend in Corporate Budgets.

The report notes that the council continues to face substantial cost pressures over the short to medium term, primarily related to the cost of social care packages for both children and adults. The impact of the National Living Wage (NLW) rise and higher levels of employers' National Insurance (NI) will put pressure on Adult Social Care costs in 2026/27.

A key element of the budget-setting process is consultation with stakeholders. The council has already launched the annual Your Council, Your Voice Survey to gather feedback from residents on potential savings or revenue-generating proposals. The council also intends to consult with business ratepayers, trade unions, and the Resources Scrutiny Committee. Consultation with business ratepayers will correspond with representatives of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) East Midlands, and the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The report also mentions the Government's 2026-27 to 2028-29 Local Government Finance Policy Statement, which includes a multi-year settlement covering the next three financial years through to March 2029. According to the Minister of State (Minister for Local Government and English Devolution) Alison McGovern MP, This multi-year Settlement will better align funding with deprivation and By 2028-29, we expect that the 10% most deprived authorities will see a significant increase in their Core Spending Power per head compared to the least deprived .

Key headlines impacting Derbyshire County Council (DCC) are:

• A £600m Recovery Grant will target funding at low taxbase/high deprivation authorities, but DCC will not receive any of this grant.
• The 'Remoteness' factor has 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 has been raised to 50 miles.
• Council Tax referendum principles for councils will remain unchanged for the MYS period.
• MHCLG assume precepts are at the maximum permitted i.e. 4.99%.

The Chancellor's Autumn Budget 2025 included measures expected to have a direct impact on the council's financial planning for 2026-27. The government will set out its plans for SEND reform early in the new year and that future funding implications will be managed within the Government's Department Expenditure Limit (DEL) envelope. Local authorities will not be expected to use general funds after the Statutory Override ends in March 2028. The government recognises that local authorities will need support for historic and accruing deficits and details of this support will be provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement.

The 2026 Business Rates Revaluation will come into effect from 1 April 2026, updating rateable values for all non-domestic rating properties to reflect current market conditions and adjusting the tax rates to reflect the changes to the tax base. The Government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, 5p below the relevant national multiplier. Alongside this the Government announced a support package to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation e.g. a transitional relief scheme.

Finally, the Chancellor also announced a 0.5% cut to all Department Expenditure Limits (DEL) will be applied across Government budgets in 2028-29, 2029-30 and 2030-31. For Local Government DEL, this applies to local government grant funding only and excludes council tax and business rates. This is therefore equivalent to around 0.1% of Core Spending Power in 2028-29.

Talent Strategy

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the council's talent strategy, including progress on launching new apprenticeships in September 2026 and recruiting external apprentices. The report from the Director of People and Organisational Change, Julie Etheridge, provides an updated position on the use of the Apprenticeship Levy within Derbyshire County Council.

The 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 aspires to align with the Public Sector apprentices starts per year target, which is currently 2.3% of headcount (230). The council is currently at 1.01% of headcount in 2024. There is also major reform of how apprenticeships are funded and structured, which will replace the apprenticeship levy with a new Growth and Skills levy.

The Growth and Skills levy will enable organisations to utilise the levy for both long and short term apprenticeships lasting a minimum of 8 months, shorter more targeted training and provided more focus on creating opportunities for young people and therefore the councils approach to apprenticeships need to change.

The report pack lists the following actions to support the council to utilise a wider proportion of its apprenticeship levy and create more opportunities for the young people of Derbyshire:

• Assessing future learning needs and skills gaps with L&D Business Partners.
• Securing commitments to recruit apprentices as part of a September 2026 cohort. Potential opportunities are being explored in Childrens Services, Corporate Services and Transformation, Place, and Adult Social Care & Health.
• Launching a recruitment campaign for new apprenticeship positions as part of National Apprenticeship week from 9th – 15th February 2026.
• Launching an internal Data Technician apprenticeship working with Multiverse to enhance the digital skills of Digital Champions across the council.
• Developing a new apprenticeship dashboard to more effectively manage spend against the apprenticeship levy.

Local Government Reform Timeline & Process

The agenda includes a discussion of the local government reform timeline and process, but no further details are provided in the report pack.

Public Questions

The agenda allows for a 30-minute period for public questions. According to the Procedure for Public Questions at I & S Committee Meetings, members of the public who are on the Derbyshire County Council register of electors, or are Derbyshire County Council tax payers or non-domestic tax payers, may ask questions of the Improvement and Scrutiny Committees, or witnesses who are attending the meeting of the Committee. Questions must be submitted in writing or by email to the Director of Legal Services no later than 12noon three working days before the committee meeting.