Working together. Walking Festival. success. In this Issue. See page 8. Alliance continues to make savings pages 4-5

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1 The joint working newsletter for members and staff at Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire councils Working together Walking Festival June 2013 In this Issue Alliance continues to make savings pages 4-5 success See page 8 Supporting young sports stars page 6 Sheffield City Region funding page 7 Step out and discover North Derbyshire page 8 Chesterfield BOROUGH COUNCIL

2 Welcome... Hello, and welcome to this latest edition of Working Together. This newsletter aims to keep staff and members informed about joint working between the three councils. Like councils up and down the country, all three authorities are working hard to respond to ever increasing pressure on public spending, while harnessing revenue potential linked to the economic growth of our areas. Joint working and shared services where possible will be as important as ever as we strive Cllr Eion Watts, Leader Bolsover District Council Cllr John Burrows, Leader Chesterfield Borough Council to achieve more efficient ways of working, while protecting the frontline services that our residents rely on. This includes already strong working relationships which exist through the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership which is set to receive more powers and Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, Leader North East Derbyshire District Council funding when it becomes a new legal body (see page 7). We ve already enjoyed some great successes, not least through the Strategic Alliance between Bolsover and North East Derbyshire (see centre pages) and we will continue to build on these strong relationships between our three councils, and other external partners. Please use this newsletter to keep up to date with news of joint working projects. If you have a project or initiative you d like to see featured please let us know. Regards Cllr Eion Watts, Leader Bolsover District Council Cllr John Burrows, Leader Chesterfield Borough Council Cllr Graham Baxter MBE, Leader North East Derbyshire District Council Sharing our successes There s a lot of good news to report about shared working between Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire and the communications teams of each authority work together keep staff, members and the public up to date with what s happening. North East Derbyshire District Council has been coordinating joint working publicity on behalf of three councils for the last two years and has now handed over the baton to Chesterfield Borough Council. CBC will lead the work from June 2013, before handing over to Bolsover in June If you have a joint working success story you would like to share please contact John Fern, CBC Communications and Marketing Manager, on (01246) or john.fern@chesterfield.gov.uk Come tweet with us! If you re on Twitter you can keep up with the latest news from all three councils search for Bolsover (@BolsoverDC), Chesterfield (@ChesterfieldBC) and North East Derbyshire (@neddc). 2

3 All change for Internal Audit It s all change for the joint Internal Audit team as a longserving member of staff has retired. Martin Iliffe, head of the department, retired during March this year after six years in charge of the the 11-strong team. Internal Audit was one of the first services to be shared by Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire councils, as part of closer working between the three authorities. The service carries out an examination of accounting, financial and other internal controls of all the councils. The post of Head of Internal Audit is due to be advertised by Chesterfield Borough Council (as the lead authority). In the meantime Jenny Williams will be acting up as Head of Internal Audit until June 2013, but this may be extended depending on how long the recruitment process takes. Jenny, who is based at NEDDC s Council House on Saltergate, can be contacted (01246) or by at jenny.williams@nederbyshire.gov.uk Residents benefit from funding success North Derbyshire councils have shared in over 2.5m worth of government funding to help residents make their homes more energy efficient and cheaper to heat. The grant was secured by a partnership of local authorities across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire - the Local Authorities Energy Partnership which includes Bolsover, Chesterfield (??) and North East Derbyshire councils. The partnership applied for funding through a national competition run by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The successful bid was led by Derbyshire County Council and supported by Nottinghamshire County Council, with the funding to be shared between fourteen district and borough councils across the two counties. Work to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the area is underway. The councils were awarded the third largest grant in the UK, despite stiff competition and a significantly oversubscribed fund - demonstrating the advantage of working in partnership for the benefit of all local residents. 3

4 The Strategic Alliance between Bolsover District Council and North East Derbyshire District Council has now passed its second anniversary with a total of 1.746m worth of savings identified across the two authorities to date. Council leaders Graham Baxter MBE and Cllr Eion Watts at the launch of the Strategic Alliance. Alliance continues to make savings The ground-breaking partnership was formalised in April 2011 the catalyst for the two authorities to share a Chief Executive and senior managers. Here we round up the latest news from the Alliance. Joint Environmental Health Services goes live The new Joint Environmental Health Service for Bolsover and North East is now in place, forming part of the Health and Wellbeing Directorate. The service is led by a new management team comprising: Gael Hepburn, Assistant Director Environmental Health, Environmental Health Managers Sharon Gillott and Samantha Bentley, and Technical Support Team Leader Sue Simmons. 4

5 Paul Hackett, Joint Director Health and Wellbeing said the service will operate flexibly, aligning customer demand with the resources and skills available This is an exciting opportunity for managers and staff to challenge the way we currently deliver services and do things differently where appropriate, he said. Over the coming months they aim to learn from each other and build on best practice from external sources and internal processes that have been established at both authorities. We will strive to achieve high standards of customer service and focus on outcomes. Staff continue to be based at both Bolsover s HQ in Clowne and NEDDC s Council House on Saltergate. Paul added: Another exciting development is the implementation of a new ICT system which will be central to aligning the services and a critical tool enabling the joint service to operate effectively. It will also build resilience and flexibility into the service once it is in place. This will be an ongoing project over the next 12 months or so. Following this we also intend to take advantage of new ways of delivering the service that the new joint ICT system will present, such as mobile working. The services that fall under the new Joint Environmental Health Service include: Food and Health and Safety Team Environmental Protection Private Sector Housing and Pollution Environmental Enforcement Licensing Pest Control Dog Wardens Affordable warmth and Green Deal Neighbourhood Outreach (Covering Bolsover District only - previously Neighbourhood Management) New working arrangements make savings New administrative arrangements between Bolsover and North East Derbyshire which mean the councils will work together to fill vacant posts, but still capture some of the savings have been launched. As part of the Strategic Alliance the two authorities agreed that when a post becomes vacant, they will look at part-filling it from the other authority, if this is possible. This approach means that vacant posts will not automatically go unfilled - some of the post will be retained, while some of the savings will still be achieved. Annual Report A summary of progress to date will be included in the Bolsover and North East Derbyshire Strategic Alliance Annual Report which is currently being compiled. Once complete it will be available to view online at It will also present new opportunities for staff who may have the chance to move into new roles, or take up temporary secondments to work on specific projects. A number of opportunities have already been identified and implemented as part of this approach amounting to a joint saving of 152,000 between the two authorities ( 67,000 at NEDDC and 85,000 at BDC). Changes include: Recent changes in the Governance Team are among the first to be brought in under the new arrangements The strategic management of the tourism service which was previously delivered by Chesterfield Borough Council on behalf of NEDDC is now being jointly delivered as part of the Strategic Alliance and Bolsover s Projects Officer (Tourism) has now taken on the strategic management of the service Two vacant posts in NEDDC s Chief Executive s Directorate have now been formally disestablished (Communications and Marketing Manager / Sustainable Communities Project Assistant). 5

6 Rising sporting stars in North East Derbyshire have been presented with bursaries, as part of the scheme which also covers Bolsover and Chesterfield. Supporting young sports stars Talented athletes from across North Derbyshire have picked up funding to boost their sporting chances, as part of a scheme supported by Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire councils. From ice skating to kickboxing, over 20 rising young stars in a variety of sports were awarded a bursary from the Derbyshire Sport ICON scheme. All of the athletes are tipped for further success in their respective sports, and are either already competing for England or Great Britain or are part of recognised national development squads or club academy structures. The three councils are among the members of business network ICON, which was set up by Derbyshire Sport as part of the work to create a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Games in Derbyshire. For a full list of athletes supported in each area visit the website at Joint working success? Have you got a joint working success story that you would like to see on the pages of future newsletters? If you have news of a partnership project that you would like to share with employees and members of Bolsover District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council or North East Derbyshire District Council, please get in touch. Contact John Fern, CBC Communications & Marketing Manager, on (01246) or john.fern@chesterfield.gov.uk 6

7 City Region to receive more powers and funding All nine members of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) including Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire councils - have now officially agreed to adopt a new legal status. The local authorities approved proposals to form the Sheffield City Region (SCR) Authority - a legal body that will lead to more efficient decision making for the city region, in particular taking on devolved powers and funding from Government. Its formation follows a comprehensive Governance Review, where leaders at the nine local authorities concluded that the time had come to put decision making at a City Region level into legislation. The SCR Authority does not take any powers from local authorities, and is intended to complement council decision making on strategic economic and transport issues. The elected mayor or leaders of all member authorities - Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire, Rotherham and Sheffield will be the board members of he SCR Authority, which comes into force in April The Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership would also have a seat on the Authority. This reinforces the strong public and private partnership at work in the city region, recognised as good practice in the recent Government response to the report from Lord Heseltine. The area that the nine local authorities represents have a combined economic output of more than 27 billion pounds per year and is home to approximately 1.8 million people, 55,000 businesses and 700,000 jobs. The Governance Review and Scheme documents are available to view on Sheffield City Region Authority website at 7

8 Step out and discovering North Derbyshire The route along the South Chesterfield Way trail History, heritage and the Beast of Bolsover helped put a spring in the step of hundreds of people taking part in the annual Chesterfield Area Walking Festival. Now in its seventh year, the 2013 festival was the biggest to date with 58 walks taking place across Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire during May. Highlights included the Bess of Chatsworth walk to discover the beginning of the Cavendish legacy, a linear walk from the Crooked Spire Church out to Bolsover Castle, a stroll around Pleasley Pit Nature Reserve to discover the Florence Nightingale connection and a Beast of a walk, which was a 20 mile-hike round Bolsover. The Chesterfield Area Walking Festival was launched at Hardwick Hall, as pictured on the front page. Meanwhile the last in a series of free audio trails which encourage residents and visitors alike to discover the hidden gems that the area has to offer have now been produced. The trails - produced thanks to 50,000 worth of funding from the North East Derbyshire and Bolsover (BNED) LEADER Approach are free to download from Hollinhill & Markland Grips (4.5 miles) The Grips is a Site of Special Scientific interest managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. It lies on the narrow band of magnesian limestone which runs from Durham to the Derbyshire- Nottinghamshire border. At this southern end it is cut by a series of valleys known locally as grips. Linacre reservoirs (3.4 miles) This trail takes in the three small reservoirs at Linacre Woods, offering a peaceful place for a leisurely family walk. Hear about the species of birds which make their home here in autumn, and there is also an amazing variety of funghi to be spotted in the undergrowth. North Wingfield (4 miles) Starting in the village of North Wingfield, this trail extends south to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust reserve of the same name. In an area where there are few other wildlife habitats, the reserve - running alongside the River Rother, is refuge for a variety of plants and animals including the water vole - which is one of Britain s rarest mammals. South Chesterfield Way (11 miles) At 11-miles long, this linear route starting at Chesterfield Town Hall is the longest of the audio trails. It follows a trail along the southern edge of the market town, starting from the town centre to Clay Cross taking in Queen s Park, Walton dam, Somersall and Wingerworth. This trail has been developed with Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire Ramblers. 8 Designed and printed by North East Derbyshire District Council 5646