The critical review of Bolsover District Council’s development company has been described as ‘unfairly-aimed’ by a Dragonfly Board Director.
The Leader of Bolsover District Council Jane Yates issued an edited statement yesterday 16/06/25 concerning the Dragonfly Development company. The original statement incorrectly stated “Bolsover District Council has followed one of the recommendations from the independent Dragonfly review ‘and dissolved’ the Dragonfly Board. There is now an interim board in place which will remain until the future of the companies has been decided.” Use of language is important and the Council Leader was not exercising due diligence in her press release by incorrectly stating “dissolved the Dragonfly Board” having realised the error, the wording was revised to “will be dissolved”.
The revised statement is below;
“Following an extraordinary meeting of the Executive committee, Bolsover District Council has followed one of the recommendations from the independent Dragonfly review and will be putting arrangements in place to dissolve the Dragonfly Board. There will be an interim board in place which will remain until the future of the companies has been decided”.
Council Leader, Councillor Jane Yates said: “Today we have taken the first step in moving forward with the recommendations from the Dragonfly review. It was recommended that the current Board be dissolved, and we are taking steps to follow this advice. “I want to reassure staff that business is continuing as normal at this stage and no changes are being made to staff working arrangements.”
The “Independent review” into the Council’s governance of its companies had been commissioned by the Council following erroneous criticism of the wholly owned company which was formed in 2022 following the collapse of Woodhead Construction company. By establishing the new company Bolsover District Council were not only able to save Council projects but also the jobs of the workforce of Woodhead Construction. Had Bolsover District Council not acted with such alacrity the projects would have been lost which would have meant financial losses to the Council, however the leadership at the time were aware of the danger posed to their projects and the potential of construction staff and sub-contractors removing their equipment so they took action to ensure the construction staff were protected along with existing projects.
But it seems, there has now been a change to the open-door policy which enabled members to engage with the previous leadership and it appears constructive critique of the leadership is no longer welcomed.
Following the 2023 District Council elections, the Labour Group held thirty one of the thirty seven seats on the Council, this has now been reduced to twenty three. These defections have nothing to do with the Dragonfly issues currently besetting the Council, but for individual reasons along with dissatisfaction in the direction of National Labour Party policies. The furore concerning the review into the Council’s governance arrangements of its wholly owned Companies has ensued because the review had not been fully evaluated along with an agreed action plan in consultation with the Dragonfly Board of Directors prior to its publication. However, Dragonfly Board of Directors’ Chair, Deborah Watson, who is also an independent district councillor, said: “Myself and [Dragonfly Secretary and Director] Grant Galloway made it perfectly clear to the leader of the Council that releasing this information into the public arena without full context and without an agreed action plan could have serious catastrophic, reputational and financial consequences on the Dragonfly Companies, its current projects and thereby the Council itself.
It appears there has been a lack of cooperation and communication by BDC leadership towards the Dragonfly Board and with misleading comments by the BDC leadership, this has led to the misunderstanding of the true success of the Dragonfly Companies.
Cllr Watson has now strongly disputed criticism aimed at Dragonfly Development and its board of directors concerning a lack of good governance, a lack of a business plan and a conflict of interest, and she has argued any lack of good governance since the development company’s launch lies with the council and its officers.
She said: “I feel criticism has been unfairly aimed at Dragonfly instead of Bolsover District Council’s own officers.”
Cllr Watson claims Dragonfly Development was given just ten minutes’ notice about the council’s planned press release and the authority is using the Dragonfly Development Company Board of Directors as ‘scapegoats’ for their own shortcomings because the responsibility of governance lies with the council and not Dragonfly.
Dragonfly Development was predicted not to return a profit for at least four years but has in fact returned a profit each year since it was set up in 2022 of around £1m per annum and provided much needed quality housing at the same time, so in fact it should be described as a resounding success. In three years it has provided a substantial financial profit for the benefit of the districts’ residents and taxpayers.
Bolsover District Council’s Independents Group Leader, Cllr Deborah Watson, stated the Dragonfly Development directors provided a business plan to the council, and they have shared information including risk management, but the authority has not engaged with them and has not allowed Dragonfly to manage its own financial systems or to attend Shareholder Board meetings with information updates.
The review identified a number of risks associated with governance but stressed these have not ‘crystallised’ and the council still has an opportunity to manage the situation and despite claiming Dragonfly Development has not delivered all of the objectives originally envisaged it has made progress in challenging circumstances with some achieved objectives. Cllr Watson has also said any issues with governance can still be resolved ‘amicably and sensibly’ but the council wants to bring Dragonfly Management back in-house and to dissolve Dragonfly Development. Cllr Watson believes that is why it has not cooperated, she added that Dragonfly Development has proved to be value for money after building much-needed, quality homes in areas other developers would not consider.
Cllr Watson argued Dragonfly is fulfilling the ambitions of Bolsover District Council providing houses and improving the economics of the area and improving the financial well-being of residents.
Despite her loyalty to the council, the Councillor added: “After eighteen years I am at the point where I am not proud, and I am ashamed of that council and it’s about to trash its own company – making them £3m in profit, building lifetime homes for its people – and they have put it into disrepute by releasing this review and not preparing an action plan.”
Dragonfly Development has overseen many of the council’s recent building projects, but it has attracted concerns from some about possible conflicts of interest with the mixing of a commercial company with a public authority’s work and the review identified a conflict of interest between the roles of the organisations. But Cllr Watson has stated there would be no conflict of interest if the situation was managed correctly by the authority and Dragonfly has legal advice confirming that these circumstances can be safely managed. The review’s report has also questioned the extent of the board of directors’ skills and it is recommending a new board be established with an independent chairperson, a senior council officer, one other independent, a non-executive director, and the companies’ Chief Executive Officer. However, Cllr Watson said the current board members are all degree-level educated professionals with vast relevant experience in the world of business finance and one is a professional auditor, and another has construction management degrees and they have all undergone training and are supported by a Senior Leadership Team professionally qualified in business. She added: “To have no councillors on the Board of Dragonfly would be a travesty. The companies are owned by the council to work on the ambitions of the council which is a democratic body.
“If you take away the councillors it would become simply a commercial enterprise led by people who see only profit margins and not the best interests of the residents of this district.”
The only threat to the council’s governance, according to Cllr Watson, is its own ‘inability’ to properly manage the governance issues of the companies along with a desire from officers to control all aspects such as not allowing Dragonfly to manage its own financial systems. Cllr Watson stated Dragonfly Development has delivered an external housing scheme for Bersahill Ltd, completed a leisure centre for Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council and has carried out numerous pre-construction consultancy projects which have generated a positive return for the organisation. She added that it is currently delivering three new-build projects for the council, and it is close to signing a number of internal and external contracts to secure work through to 2027 and it is forecasting a profit for this financial year. Cllr Watson said: “Dragonfly Management is performing well against the Key Performance Indicators set by the council and has attracted external funding to support Bolsover homes scheme projects of over £3.6m from Homes England, an additional £172,000 from the East Midlands Combined County Authority and it was instrumental in securing £15m of regeneration funding for Bolsover District Council projects. “Dragonfly Group have been audited by the council’s auditors on nine occasions and have achieved the top two levels of assurance in each case.” Dragonfly Development has, however, had to re-tender work packages on its delayed Shirebrook Crematorium scheme due to design issues received from the Council’s architect. But Cllr Watson says some packages are still in the process of being priced and the new design details have been received and she added that great progress is being made with completion expected by December 2025 for commissioning and testing, and so it will hopefully be open by the spring of 2026.
By contrast, Cllr Watson claims the council chose not to use Dragonfly on the Shirebrook Market Place scheme preferring a cheaper contractor, but in fact this scheme can no longer be financed at the original quoted price and she claims this scheme has become a ‘mess and a debacle’ and the authority alone does not have the expertise to complete similar projects themselves.
Cllr Watson believes releasing the review report has jeopardised projects, but she feels that with the ‘wonderful’ staff that work for Dragonfly Development it is possible to still complete them and get them all back on track and contractors and suppliers can be reassured that Dragonfly Development is a successful company and is financially sound. However, if the Council chooses to dissolve the Dragonfly Development Board of Directors, Cllr Watson expects there will be huge costs for the council, not least sorting out the TUPE requirements to return Dragonfly Management back into the council, but she does not envisage job losses from that particular company as the services will still need to be delivered.
Cllr Watson said: “If Dragonfly Development was to be dissolved the costs would be huge as the projects would undoubtedly stall, and the council would not have the capacity to complete them. “Sub-contractors and suppliers would lose confidence in the schemes and walk. Ultimately, this would cost us the taxpayers.”
Cllr Yates appears to be a Leader who fails to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation she has created by failing to engage with all parties involved in the review. An extraordinary meeting of the Council has been scheduled for 9th July to present the findings of the review to the Full Council. Cllr Yates plans to dissolve the current Board of Dragonfly Development Company and replace them with an interim board until the future of the companies has been decided. This proposal has nothing to do with either the efficiency or non-effectiveness of the companies but everything to do with political considerations and the fact that members of the current board are no longer members of the Labour Party, so it is clearly an act of spite by a weak leader seeking revenge on ex members of the Labour Party and will go to any lengths to try and punish individuals despite the damage both financial and reputational that would befall the Council.
Cllr Yates’s tenure as Leader of the Council has overseen an exodus of members of the Labour Group to the Independent Group and disharmony amongst Councillors and Officers mainly concerning the future of the Dragonfly companies. Cllr Yates has presided over a Council where they had a majority of twenty-five Councillors, to one where they now only have a reduced majority of nine purely because of her inability to be open to constructive criticisms and restricting herself to advice from a limited number of Councillors and Officers rather than taking on board advice and suggestions from all of her colleagues.
Bolsover: former home of the famed Beast of Bolsover, Mr Dennis Skinner.
This appears to rather a strange decision when Dragonfly has made a profit of £3 million for the council. The question has to be asked of the Leader of Bolsover District Council, does she, with her limited time as a councillor, possess the necessary experience to be making such far reaching decisions. She was first elected in May 2023. The previous leader of the Council Steve Fritchley, had over 30 years experience as a Councillor
I forgot to mention, Steve’s deputy Duncan McGregor, had 51 years years of experience.