The High Peak is situated within the Peak District at the north-western tip of Derbyshire and the East Midlands Region.
The stunning Dark Peak and White Peak landscapes and their distinctive townscapes, together with the Borough's close proximity to Manchester and Sheffield, make this a highly popular visitor destination and a sought after area in which to live.
Kinder Scout, at the centre of the High Peak, is the highest point in the Peak District. In area, High Peak is the second largest district in Derbyshire. While two-thirds of the Borough lie in the Peak District National Park, most (93%) of our population lives outside the Park, with the major population centres being around Glossop, to the north, and Buxton, to the south.
Unique to the High Peak is our position – surrounded by five counties (Cheshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester) and within a sixth, Derbyshire itself. For Government purposes, the High Peak lies within the East Midlands, while having links with Greater Manchester, Yorkshire and West Midlands Regions.
There are 43 elected members, representing residents of the High Peak across our 28 wards. Following the 2007 local elections, the Council is run by a Conservative Executive
Since 2000, the Council’s political structure has been that of a Leader and Cabinet style Executive team, who make decisions within the agreed budget and policies of the Council. The Executive team meets eight times a year in public, with each member having responsibility for a specific portfolio of Council functions.
The new Executive has established six Executive Boards who will have responsibility for portfolio areas reflecting the Council's corporate aims.
The Council has four Select or Scrutiny Committees – Corporate, Regeneration, Environment, and Social Inclusion and Community. Together, they cover most of the Council’s functions. These committees not only scrutinise Council performance, our decisions and actions taken in carrying out our duties, but they also:
In additon to these scrutiny groups, a Provision For Youth Select Sub –Committee has been established with the specific remit of overseeing the preparation of the borough’s Play Strategy. An Executive member has been identified as the Play Champion with responsibility for the implementation of the Play Strategy.
As well as taking on formal roles within decision making and scrutiny, members have an important role in providing feedback to the Council on areas of concern within each ward, in order for issues to be discussed and addressed.
Details of local ward representatives and the committees they sit on in the Council are on our website, together with the councillors' contact details.
High Peak Borough Council is one of eight district or borough councils within Derbyshire County. Derbyshire County Council has formed a County Play partnership and produced a County wide strategy ‘ Planning for Play’ which recognises the value of partnership working in this context.
Derbyshire is a two-tier County Structure, incorporating County, District and Borough Councils, together with the unitary authority of Derby City Council. Partnership working is very important in two tier authorities, for the following reasons:
‘Metropolitan and unitary authorities throughout England benefit from having play, leisure, planning, education, youth and highways functions within the same authority; so, although there is a clear role for other agencies and organisations within the strategy process, the task of coordinating and encouraging input from key services will, in theory, be easier to achieve.On the other hand, district and county councils do not have sole responsibility for the above functions, which means that they must be more inclusive, in terms of the public agencies they encourage to become involved in the strategy process.
Partnerships, particularly those that have a clear focus on children and young people, could be a useful starting point in two tier areas. Normally such a partnership would operate as a distinct working group within the hierarchy of partnership arrangements that feed into the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnerships (CYPSP) or Children’s Trusts.
In second tier authorities, new ways of working in partnership with key stakeholders may be needed, with the local authority possibly having an enabling role.’