Lib Dems accused of ‘scaremongering’ over claims Derbyshire town council is facing another financial storm

Staveley Town Council followed recommendations outlined by a critical Improvement Board report after it identified in November, 2023, alarming financial shortfalls but the report also noted how the council had since introduced a new financial system, had reduced expenditure to pay off debt and had introduced a number of money-saving measures.

But Staveley Town Council Liberal Democrats say the council’s Labour and Community Independent councillors have recently voted to increase staff and staffing costs, impose a 3.2per cent council tax precept increase, and that money is being used to pay staff and debts and to cover losses on running its Staveley Hall, Speedwell Rooms and a cafe.

However, Independent Cllr Paul Mann has hit back saying staffing was originally stripped back to address debts and it is only now being increased with the council’s recovery and any council tax increase is in line with a forward plan and inflation.

He added that there are also plans to support the Speedwell Rooms with Community Infrastructure Levy funding and match-funding and to put Staveley Hall into a cost-effective trust.

Cllr Mann, who claims the Liberal Democrats did not submit an alternative during the recent budget-setting process, said: “They are right that staffing numbers are going up but they are all budgeted for to help build the council back up so it can keep functioning.”

Staveley Town Council avoided bankruptcy after Chesterfield Borough Council agreed to loan the authority £400,000 in February, 2023, and an independent Improvement Board criticised the town council’s financial management between 2011 and 2022 in a report which stated the council’s financial situation had been caused by events which were not just faced by one particular political group’s administration.

The council acknowledged the board’s findings concerning its previous financial management including its operations, finances and governance arrangements and the board recognised councillors wanted to make the authority more effective and they praised the new and current Town Clerk Sabrina Doherty’s work.

Staveley Town Council successfully introduced a new financial system under the current clerk, according to the report, and it began following recommendations outlined by the board as well as reducing expenditure with money-saving measures to pay off its debt.

In August, the council began seeing improvements with its finances, governance and operations, according to Ms Doherty, and this was backed up by an internal audit check boxes after the council had been off track but was soon deemed to be healthy, structured, organised and controlled under a local council accounting system with budget monitoring.

But the Liberal Democrat councillors, including Stephen Hartley, Barry Bingham, Jane Collins, Kelly Thornton, and the late Paul Jacobs, highlighted in a circulated leaflet a number of claims including that Labour and Independent councillors had voted to ‘spend,spend, spend’ as part of the council’s current budget 2026-27 plans and that it would face a worse financial situation by 2030 than in 2022-23.

Cllr Hartley stated: “It’s like waking up in the same repeating situation day after day. Just like the movie Groundhog Day. Unlike Bill Murray in the movie, the Labour [and] Community Independent councillors simply will not learn from experience how to do things better.

“They are taking us straight back to the days of a huge staffing bill, a loss-making business or cafe and the continued loss-making operation of the Speedwell Rooms and Staveley Hall.”

Cllr Hartley stated the town council will not finish repaying its £400,000 loan to the borough council until 2028 and it still owes hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Government which was borrowed before 2019.

He added: “They just don’t seem to understand that this is not Monopoly play money. It is hard cash taken from the pockets of every hard-pressed household in the Staveley area.”

The Lib Dems claim the town council is increasing staffing costs from £174,019 to £381,798, and that a new tax increase means £589,475 is being taken out of Staveley residents’ pockets, and money is being eaten up by paying staff and debts, and covering losses on the running of Staveley Hall and the Speedwell Rooms.

They also claim that of every £100 spent by the council less than £15 is spent on community activities.

The Lib Dems argue the council should not reopen a ‘loss-making’ council-run cafe, it should employ less staff, and not double the staff at two loss-making buildings, Staveley Hall and Speedwell Rooms, and it should continue to review its operations instead of spending so much money.

However, Cllr Mann said the last time the Liberal Democrats brought in an alternative budget there was a £53,000 black hole which would have meant cutting services and he accused the Lib Dems of ‘misleading’ residents and ‘scaremongering’.

He also argued the council tax increase will involve only a modest amount of money and if the council followed calls to not increase its council tax precept there would be no Christmas market, no Christmas lights, no senior citizens’ parties and no community events unless you raided the council’s reserves.

Cllr Mann said the council stripped staff back to the bare minimum to help pay off its loans but it is now financially stable and it is in a position where it can start to increase and budget for its staffing numbers to secure and bring back its assets.

He added: “The council is financially stable after two or three years with hundreds of thousands of pounds in reserves and we have got to the point where we can start to increase staff but it is all budgeted for.”

Cllr Mann explained there are also plans to put Staveley Hall into a trust to save money in the future and the Speedwell Rooms will be supported by CIL funding.

He claims it would be a bad idea to sell the Speedwell Rooms because a large amount of any sale proceeds would go to Chesterfield Borough Council as part of an existing agreement.

Cllr Mann dubbed the Liberal Democrats the party of ‘doom and gloom’ claiming they have repeatedly voted against plans to contribute funding to various community schemes.

He said: “There is roughly just short of £300,00 in our reserves and everything that the Lib Dems claim is going to bankrupt us is actually budgeted for.

“The only party that is going to bankrupt the council is the Lib Dems because their last budget two or three years ago put a £53,000 black hole in the budget.”

A council spokesperson said the council has been operating on ’emergency measures’ for the last three years and if it does nothing it will face bankruptcy so if it wants to move into the future it needs to keep developing services and staffing and an example of that are the plans for the Speedwell Rooms building which is almost permanently booked.

Staveley Hall and the Speedwell Rooms are community facilities and, according to the council spokesperson, they are essential to enable people to come together, to prevent loneliness and to support health and wellbeing and if the council wants to increase their use it has to increase staffing even though this may be expensive.

The council spokesperson added: “It would be absolute suicide to get rid of these two buildings because we would never get them back.”

Staveley Town Council recently approved its budget for the 2026-27 financial year and agreed a 3.2per cent increase for its part of residents’ overall council tax bills known as the town council’s precept.

This means an increase of £3.92 per year for a Band D property for the town council’s element of council tax bills with an increase of £2.61 per year for properties in Band A which is Staveley’s most common property band.

Staveley Town Council has set a total spending budget of £1,134,028.80 for the coming year to be funded through the precept, income generated from council services and facilities, grants, and the planned use of reserves including CIL funds.

The town council’s council tax precept contributes £589,448 towards this overall budget alongside further income from other sources which help to support services and facilities.

The council provides a range of services and facilities that support the community including building management, community engagement, governance and resources, loan repayments and the public realm including allotments, benches and hanging baskets.

It says it will continue to manage its finances carefully throughout the year while working to maximise income from its facilities and external funding opportunities.

Cllr Mann said: “I call the Lib Dems the party of ‘all take and no give’. It’s easy to take from the residents of Staveley and give nothing back when out of the existing four Lib Dems none of them actually live in Staveley. They don’t put anything in the pot.”

Staveley Town Council announced in August, last year, that its improved governance and community engagement were recognised with the National Association of Local Council’s Local Council Award Scheme’s bronze honour.

The Bronze Award – which is a peer-reviewed accreditation – recognises governance, community engagement, and service delivery and helps provide a framework for councils to keep improving and developing.

Staveley Town Council says it has been using the award scheme framework to improve its governance practices and develop its operations as part of its recovery programme.

A key feature of the award is openness and transparency which has also been recognised at the council with its new website providing reports and documents about its activities and finances.

Following the May 2023 elections, Staveley Town Council has no single party in overall control with a closely split council between largely Labour, Community Independents and Liberal Democrats alongside a smaller number of Staveley Matters councillors.