On 13 November 2025, Derbyshire County Council voted to recommend one unitary council covering both Derby and Derbyshire as its preferred option for local government reorganisation. The vote was 35 in favour, 17 against and two abstentions.

The county council’s Cabinet approved the proposal on 27 November and submitted it to the government on 28 November 2025. A separate proposal from Derby City Council and the eight district and borough councils favoured two unitary councils.

What happened next?

Following a public consultation, the government selected a two-council model in July 2026. On 7 September 2026 it announced a review of the reorganisation programme, including the July decisions. High Peak Borough Council says implementation of the Derby and Derbyshire plan is paused while the decision is reviewed; the outcome and timetable are not yet known. See the council’s latest update.

The county council’s 2025 case

Under the arrangements in place at the time, Derbyshire County Council and eight district and borough councils provided different services in the county, while Derby City Council was already a unitary authority. Unitary councils bring local authority services together in one tier.

In its 2025 submission, the county council estimated that its single-council proposal would produce a cumulative benefit of £144 million over six years and annual savings of about £45.1 million once fully phased in. These were forecasts for that proposal, not savings already achieved. The council argued that a single authority would cost less to establish and avoid dividing countywide services. It also proposed area committees and local teams.

The county council said feedback on the two-council options it had considered included concern about splitting the county. Derby City and district and borough councils put forward their own case for two councils. The 2025 proposals concerned principal councils; town and parish councils were not included.