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Last year we revealed our new Council Plan for 2021-25 presenting our key priorities, ambitions, challenges, opportunities, achievements and headline initiatives. We update the plan each year, and the 2022-23 refreshed plan has now been published.
 The refreshed plan, with a new foreword by county council leader Councillor Barry Lewis, details our key accomplishments, talks about our budget and how we spend it, and focuses on the challenges and opportunities we face currently and in the years ahead.
Headline initiatives include:
- economic recovery
- roads and travel
- climate change
- children's services.
Organisations across the county have joined forces to support people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine by safely resettling them into Derbyshire homes.
So far around 100 Derbyshire households have been accepted to open up their home to host Ukrainian refugees under the Government’s 'Homes for Ukraine’ scheme – with many more expected to follow.
As the first families begin to arrive in the county, efforts to support them to settle with their host families are being led by a partnership including ourselves, local district and borough councils, health colleagues, police, voluntary and community groups and other agencies.
The partnership – which previously coordinated the response to calls from Government to house Afghan refugees – will take on tasks such as carrying out safeguarding checks to make sure refugees are settled into safe and supportive homes, administering emergency payments of £200 to refugees and national £350 a month ‘thank you’ payments to host families, helping to secure school places for arriving children and young people and giving advice on how to access other services, like healthcare or welfare benefits.
The partnership is not responsible for matching host households with people travelling from Ukraine but is working to support both the hosts and guests once they have been matched and their visa application has been confirmed.
Anyone wishing to register to host a Ukrainian refugee or a family in their home must register on the Government’s website.
Offers of support have been received from people across the county who are unable to provide accommodation but would like to help in other ways and anyone who wishes to offer their support in this way can email ukrainesupport@derbyshire.gov.uk.
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£20,000 is to be donated from our council's Chairman’s Fund to support people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
The donation has been agreed by our Civic Chairman Councillor Jean Wharmby and will be made to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Appeal, which is funding a range of support with its partners, including providing refugees and displaced people with food, water, blankets, hygiene items and medical help.
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A new East Midlands Mayoral Combined Authority could be created, leading to more major decisions being made locally and more funding for services in the region.
We, along with Derby City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council have sent initial proposals to government to negotiate a combined devolution deal.
The four councils were named as pathfinder areas by the government in February and were invited to apply for a devolution deal. The councils are now at the front of the queue and are looking to secure the earliest possible deal to bring more decision-making power into the hands of local people.
Key areas for greater autonomy and funding highlighted in the submission to the government include transport and infrastructure, business growth, inward investment, strategic regeneration, employment, education and skills. Council resources could also be pooled to make them go further.
Government Environment Minister Rebecca Pow has visited Matlock to discuss flooding issues after the town was affected in February following days of heavy rain.
Leader of the Council Councillor Barry Lewis, our Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal and highways officers also attended the visit to show the Minister the areas which had been affected, including the flood damage off Crown Square in the town centre, and explain what measures were taken at the time and work that had been carried out over the past few weeks.
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Cllr Lewis called on the government for extra resources so that the issues can be tackled and we can support local businesses and residents.
People whose homes or businesses were affected in the recent floods can still apply to our flood hardship funds.
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Find out more about fostering at our next online Talk Fostering event.
 It takes place on Thursday 31 March from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
You'll find out more about being a foster carer and about the fostering payments and allowances, and you'll hear details of the training and support we give our foster carers.
You can offer short or long-term care, ranging from single-night emergency stays to placements which last for several years.
We don't look for a particular type of person. Just like parents, foster carers come from a variety of different backgrounds and can be married or single, young or older, in work or not. You might be in a civil partnership, straight, gay, trans or bisexual.
We can all do our bit on climate change and lots of you are. Everyday people are going about their lives in quietly revolutionary ways – helping cut carbon emissions in Derbyshire to make the UK and the wider world a greener place.
 Take 14-year-old Jamie. He's dedicated to helping other people reduce their carbon footprints. From the age of eight, he's written to his local paper about recycling and ethical shopping. And more recently, he's co-written a book on climate change in which he sets down more than 130 tips on how to reduce carbon emissions.
Jamie tries to follow the tips himself. For example, he usually walks or cycles instead of travelling by car. And he wrote to the headteacher at his school to encourage train travel for school trips rather than flying. He also encouraged the use of reusable face masks instead of disposable ones. Great job Jamie!
Do you know a Net Zero Hero? Nominate them here
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