Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley
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00:00 Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.
00:03 Cash-strapped Derbyshire County Council is hoping to have a comprehensive budget plan rubber-stamped at a Valentine's Day meeting
00:10 in its bid to balance a £39.5 million estimated shortfall and to avoid bankruptcy.
00:16 The Council's plans include a highly emotive savings proposals that are likely to affect the elderly, disabled and children
00:23 and it has already stopped non-essential spending and implemented a hiring freeze,
00:27 reduced residents' capital entitlement limit for adult care from £50,000 to £23,000
00:33 and has increased the cost of school meals by about 41%.
00:37 Derbyshire County Council has also stressed that redundancies amongst workforce cannot be ruled out
00:43 as it examines retaining, redeployment, voluntary redundancies and leaving empty posts unfilled.
00:49 It is also hoping to sell its office headquarters, County Hall in Matlock, which could become hotels, offices or homes.
00:56 Deputy Leader Simon Spencer, who is also the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and the Budget, told a recent meeting
01:03 "None of us wish to find ourselves in the position we find ourselves in today, but the fact is we have to deal with these challenges."
01:10 Shirley Park Leisure Centre in Claycross will close its doors for the public for the final time on February 29th,
01:18 held in the end of an era for the 43-year-old sporting facility.
01:22 During that time it has seen thousands of people pass through its doors, including a number of famous faces.
01:27 Well-known sporting stars such as snooker player Alex Higgins and Tony Knowles,
01:32 wrestlers Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy, swimmers David Wilkie and Adrian Morehouse
01:37 and darts legend Phil 'The Power' Taylor to name just a few.
01:40 The centre had remained partially open while work took place to replace it with Claycross Active,
01:45 but it will now close completely at the end of the month to allow work to continue on the new centre,
01:50 which is expected to open in winter 2024.
01:53 Claycross Active is being built as part of the £24m Claycross Town Deal,
01:58 with £1.9m of funding also coming from Sport England.