Full Council meetings

Every 4 or 6 weeks there is a meeting of the Full Council of Derbyshire County Council and the 64 elected councillors gather to discuss, approve and receive reports and motions and the such like. We had one such meeting yesterday and here is an account of my own role in that meeting.

Under Oral Questions to the Leader I asked about the Landscapes Review that the Government have commissioned and whether Derbyshire would be positive and constructive in its response to the review. The reply was helpfully positive and I intend to follow this topic up with some definitive proposals.

We received a report on the need to appoint a senior post of Director of Children’s Services. My own group is not represented on the interview panel and so, as a member of the Looked After Children Board for the County, I asked that specific attention was given to the qualification of candidates in this area as I feel it is a growing and difficult area for the Council.

There are a number of urgent decisions that are often passed between meetings and this has included additional spending on the Hollis Lane Link Road in Chesterfield. I noted my concerns that the project was running over budget by £1.984million or nearly 25%. My concerns were noted.

And then we debated a motion on declaring a climate emergency in Derbyshire. The motion was passed but was heavily amended and I have written elsewhere on the poor politics that littered the debate.  The worst bit was the shameless political game playing by the opposition Labour Group which included some delicious irony. The Labour councillors on Derbyshire are pushing for specific dates and targets - the very thing that have refused to do at Chesterfield; they are calling for an inclusive working group of residents, councillors and specialists - precisely as they have disbanded the same group at Chesterfield; and they are calling for greater Scrutiny opportunities - as they have refused to enable at Chesterfield and have removed the Climate Change action plan from the Scrutiny agenda. It’s hypocrisy of the worst order and Labour seem oblivious and happy to be hypocrites. It makes no sense.

Odd times indeed.