Clairvoyance, the Reform administration's debate strategy!

Derbyshire County Council’s Full Council meetings give councillors the chance to question cabinet members directly and the meeting on the 7th October 2026 was no exception. Two councillors - Sue Burfoot (Lib Dem) and Damien Greenhalgh (Labour) - submitted formal questions to Carol Wood, Cabinet Member for Environment in advance of the meeting.

As usual, written responses were circulated a few hours before the meeting, with the expectation that cabinet members would then answer supplementary questions live in the chamber.

But when the time came, Cllr Wood had already left the meeting.

Despite her absence, councillors Burfoot and Greenhalgh were still invited to ask their supplementary questions. Cllr Charlotte Hill was delegated to respond on Wood’s behalf.

What happened next was extraordinary.

Instead of listening to the supplementary questions and responding to them, Cllr Hill read out pre-written answers drafted by Cllr Wood before the meeting - answers to questions she had never heard.

Unsurprisingly, the “responses” bore no relation to the questions actually asked. They weren’t answers at all. They were prepared statements delivered in place of accountability.

If cabinet members can simply leave the room and have someone read out pre-written replies to unknown questions, what does that say about transparency, scrutiny, and respect for the democratic process?