Cllr Stephen Reed

For those who have questions about the CEO position at Derbyshire County Council. Here are the Key points

Setting the record straight on Derbyshire’s new Council CEO

There’s been some confusion recently, fuelled by claims in the local press from Conservative figures, about the recruitment of Derbyshire County Council’s new Chief Executive. We want to clear things up and reassure residents that our commitment to delivering efficiencies for Derbyshire remains absolute.

Emma Alexander, our outgoing CEO, resigned in July to take up a new role at Tameside. Appointing her replacement should have been a straightforward process – unfortunately, it has been misrepresented and spun into something it’s not.
Here are the facts:

🔹 Pay scale rules for civil servants are governed by national pay structures first introduced under Tony Blair’s “New Labour” and carried on by successive governments. These had ample opportunity to reform or review these frameworks – they didn’t. We are operating entirely within the system they left behind. Only a future Reform UK government can truly fix this.

🔹 Derbyshire is one of the lowest-paid large county councils. After years of stalled pay reviews under Conservative leadership, Derbyshire has fallen behind – not only at senior levels, but across frontline roles too.

🔹 We face an additional recruitment challenge: with Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) coming in 2028, this Chief Executive role will only exist for a limited term.

🔹 We need the right CEO for change. Over the next two years, Derbyshire needs strong leadership to deliver real savings, reform services and put residents first. To attract the calibre of candidate required – while staying within national rules – we have included a performance-related bonus of £20,000. This will only be paid if the new CEO delivers the transformational results we need.

This is not a reckless pay rise. The base salary is already nationally set at a minimum of £181,000. The potential bonus is a prudent investment – one that will only be earned through proven efficiencies and improvements for Derbyshire.

Our priority is simple: appoint the best person to deliver better value, better leadership and better services for the people of Derbyshire.

(typo redacted for accuracy)

I am holding Surgeries every week up until Christmas. I'm looking forward to meeting as many people as possible.

STREET NAMES ARE NOW WOKE

Yesterday Killamarsh Parish Council was approached to make comments or suggestions on potential street names for a building development in our village.

I suggested - by email - to the other councillors that given the anniversary of VE Day this year, it would be a good opportunity for the village to Honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this nation, our freedom and democracy. It was supported across the political divide, and tabled for the next Full council meeting.

“STREETS CAN NO LONGER BE NAMED AFTER PEOPLE AS THEY MIGHT BE RACIST OR OWNED SLAVES” – Derbyshire Building Control Partnership

Today I called Derbyshire Building Control Partnership (DBCP) to check on rules and naming conventions to ensure Council is prepared for the submissions.

I was told we cannot use names of any kind. When I enquired as to why I was informed that it is policy guidance put out by Geo Place https://www.geoplace.co.uk/ (by all appearances a quango) and that DBCP have accepted that as policy. So now councils under their authority are bound to this policy.

When I enquired further, I was informed that following the BLM Protests The policy was adopted not to use names in case someone with the same name previously owned slaves, or in some way was considered Racist.

This directly contradicts DBCP’s own website. However, their own policy "DBCP-street-naming-and-numbering-policy-2022"; https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:e68482cf-323c-4cb3-9369-8a1338069bff – “4. Street Naming – Good practice when selecting a name.” – advises to “Avoid using names of people or commercial organisations.

I asked whether Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela or William Wilberforce would be acceptable and was told no. Further, Millie Bright – Captain of the England Women’s football is from Killamarsh and she too would rejected.

I have spent the afternoon investigating this further and thus far can find no law that has been passed, no motion to any elected body anywhere within Derbyshire - or elsewhere - that has introduced this policy. It appears that Geo Place – through bureaucratic nonsense – and DBCP have overreached.

I have written to the leader of NE Derbyshire District Council and to the Leader of the Opposition to write to both DBCP, Derbyshire County Council, and central government.

As a Veteran and Councillor I think it is essential that we honour and remember those who sacrificed everything for the freedoms we enjoy today, and not to take them for granted.

Street naming may not be a grand gesture, but it is a way of honouring our Heroes, and keeping their memory alive in our towns and villages for future generations.

Lest we Forget

let me know where you stand on this

Proud of our skate park and everyone who worked so hard to deliver this!

Well done!!

Killamarsh Active | Skate Park North East Derbyshire District Council has secured almost £100,000 of funding to improve the skate park in Killamarsh which will form part of the wider trans...