Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley
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00:00 Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.
00:03 Job cuts at a cash-strapped Derbyshire Council are not being ruled out
00:07 and many questions are still unanswered as it scrambles to plug a £46 million funding black hole.
00:13 Just over a month ago, Derbyshire County Council disclosed that it was ceasing non-essential spending
00:18 and implementing a hiring freeze to curb a forecast £46 million overspend.
00:24 The Council, which is Derbyshire's largest employer with 30,000 staff,
00:28 said it was also reviewing agency staff work in a bid to cut costs.
00:32 It made clear that bailing itself out with its own rainy day fund of reserves
00:36 would not be sufficient after 13 years of funding cuts and tough budgets.
00:41 However, when asked for a list of all the services on which any further spending had been paused
00:46 after being deemed non-essential, the Council said it could not provide that list.
00:50 It added that executive directors are still in the process of deciding what is essential spending and what is not.
00:57 It also cannot provide a list of the projects which have been paused or postponed
01:01 after a further review of spending on key schemes.
01:04 It was asked if there would be any further redundancies, the number of potential redundancies and proposed savings.
01:10 The authority said, "There are no plans for large-scale closures of services,
01:15 significant redundancies or volunteer redundancies to meet our in-year savings.
01:20 We cannot say whether this situation will change."
01:23 Opposition leadership say the authority is now on the edge of bankruptcy,
01:27 with the authority in a position where, if it cannot right the ship by March 2024,
01:32 it may have to declare itself effectively bankrupt, continue its pre-emptive freeze on non-essential spending
01:39 and call for central government assistance.
01:43 Max Palfrey from North East Derbyshire has launched a world-first range of sensory clothing
01:48 to help other autistic children.
01:50 The 11-year-old from North East Derbyshire set up his own business, Comfa,
01:54 a clothing company aimed at children who experience extreme sensitivity to certain materials, seams and labels.
02:01 Max, who is neurodivergent, used his own experiences to help others who face similar challenges.
02:07 The t-shirts are made from a super soft material and have poppets,
02:11 popular fidget toys often used by neurodivergent people to help them soothe and self-regulate in the seams.
02:17 Called the Fidget T, the t-shirts feature unique poppets sewn to the seams where the arms naturally fall,
02:23 so it can be used as a calming technique without being obvious.