A year of unitary

Political leaders give their thoughts on the first year of Northamptonshire's unitary councils

By Sarah Ward

The start of this month marked the end of the first year of Northamptonshire’s unitary councils.

Both run by Conservative administrations and born out of the financial wreckage of the former county council, they were set up in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that ambitions to have two dynamic new local councils, with transformed services, had to be scaled back to just safe and legal.

Over the past 12 months NN Journal has reported extensively on both authorities, charting legal actions, concerns about staffing levels and climate change ambitions.

We asked the political parties from across the councils for their take on the first year.

Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council