KEEP CHESTERFIELD OUT OF THE SHEFFIELD CITY REGION

In April, after very little public consultation, Chesterfield Borough Council decided that Chesterfield should become a full member of the Sheffield City Region.

This decision was based solely on the assertion that, as a full member of the Sheffield City Region, Chesterfield would have access to £900 million of funding devolved from central government in London over the next 30 years.

However, there are two serious flaws in this plan:
First, there is no guarantee that Chesterfield will see any of this funding. Chesterfield will be in competition with Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham which contain areas of great social and economic deprivation and which are therefore likely to attract most, if not all, of the available funding.

Second, the Sheffield City region will have an elected mayor based in Sheffield. In the future, it is possible that this mayor will take control of transport, strategic planning, skills training, employment, police and fire services, waste management and justice for the whole region including Chesterfield.

This would result in a significant transfer of power and funding from both Chesterfield Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council to the Sheffield City region mayor. In effect, Chesterfield would be completely absorbed into the Sheffield City Region.