Friday brief: ‘Hypocrisy’ charge over chief executive recruitment
Here's our weekly Friday news round up
The Reform UK’s administration in Northants have been accused of ‘hypocrisy’ after saying the new chief executive can work from home for the majority of their week.
The authority is on the hunt for a new chief exec after long standing boss Anna Earnshaw decided that after three months of running a Reform UK council it was time to move on. She will leave next month and chief finance officer Martin Henrys will step in on an interim basis until her replacement is appointed.
The role is being advertised with a £201,000 salary, and the job specification says applicants can work from home and away from the One Angel Square Headquarters, for up to three days a week.
However, leader of the Conservative opposition, Cllr Daniel Lister, has called the Reform UK administration out for “hypocrisy” over the advert.
He said:
“Reform UK said ‘CEOs are paid astronomical salaries’ and promised to end work from home culture in councils. Nigel Farage told remote workers: ‘You either work from the office or you’re gone.’
“Now they’re advertising a chief executive at £200,000 with three days a week working from home.
“They pledged to slash wasteful spending. Instead they’re using expensive recruitment consultants for a role that breaks every promise they made.
“Residents deserve better than broken promises and hypocrisy.”
A WNC spokesman said:
“WNC is the fourth largest unitary council in the country and the role of Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring the delivery of over 900 public services to more than 430,000 people, overseeing budgets totalling over £1.2bn.
“When recruiting for our new chief executive it is essential we attract the very best people and it would not be in the interests of our residents to settle for anything less than the best for them. We’ve therefore ensured the salary and working arrangements for the post reflect chief executive roles at similar authorities, carefully benchmarking them with other councils so we know they are both competitive and attractive enough to reach the most talented applicants.
“We are aware of some public comments misinterpreting the working conditions of the post. We expect our chief executive to be highly visible and work across our offices and the wider region with residents.
“The conditions of the role give the ability for them to do this by working flexibly at a range of locations if needed for up to three days a week to meet the role’s demands, such as various offices, community hubs, at home or other venues. Part-flexible conditions are already in place for our current chief executive and have not been introduced for this recruitment exercise under the new administration.”
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
News in brief
A former Northampton republican MP and founder of the national secular society was commemorated at the weekend.
The Charles Bradlaugh Society met on Sunday for the commemoration that has been happening since 2002. Bradlaugh, who was elected as MP for the town in 1880, has a number of places in the town named after him, including at the university.
He is famous for refusing to take the oath to the Queen and the church and was not admitted to parliament for several years, after being imprisoned and fined for his disobedience. In 1888 he was successful in his quest and the Bradlaugh’s Oaths Act, which allowed non-religious affirmations to be accepted as an alternative to religious oaths, was made into law.
The Green Party has made a complaint to Northants Police over a Reform UK candidate providing a buffet for residents at an event.
According to a social media post by deputy leader at North Northamptonshire Council Mr Duffy, who is a candidate in the Lloyds and Corby Village by-election, ‘put on a generous and tasty’ buffet at a branch event on September 16, which was attended by members and residents.
Under election law it is an offence for candidates to ‘treat’ people with the intent to influence electors.
The Green Party, who have candidate Lee Forster standing against Mr Duffy, has written to North Northamptonshire Council and reported the matter to Northants Police.
The council, which has been run by Reform UK since May, says the monitoring officer can only deal with complaints made against serving councillors and the police say the matter is being reviewed.
NN Journal has contacted Lee Duffy for comment but he has not responded. A spokesperson for the national party said it was a ‘political hit job’.
Other candidates in the by-election, which happens on Thursday, October 9, are: Gerri Cullen (Labour); Alex Lock (Lib Dem) and Paul Byrne (Cons).
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has agreed to plans to buy derelict land off a developer to build more than 80 affordable homes.
Original proposals for a £20 million housing scheme on the former car dealership and petrol station site on Harlestone Road, Duston, were submitted by developer Vistry Group in September last year.
The council has now approved plans to take on the brownfield land from Vistry so it can deliver all 82 homes as affordable housing. This will comprise 31 homes for affordable rent, 26 homes for shared ownership and 25 homes for social rent.
Speaking at a full council meeting last Thursday (September 25), Cllr Charlie Hastie, cabinet member for housing, said:
“The strategic importance of this obviously addresses the affordability challenges in West Northamptonshire.
“This also transforms a brownfield site into a vibrant resident area supporting local employment, we hope, and also economic development. Public engagement has shown very strong support for the scheme.”
It is anticipated that work will start on the site in early 2026, with a planned completion date achieved by summer 2027. However, the project is still subject to receiving formal planning approval from the council.
WNC will use HRA borrowing to cover any costs above the Homes England grant to the developer, with the obligation for Vistry to build out the homes and transfer them at completion. The project finances have been kept confidential and were exempt from public discussion during the meeting, however WNC says it has carried out appropriate financial checks.
Members voted to approve the capital expenditure for the project and authorise the land acquisition from the Vistry Group.
According to the report, the scheme is due to have its planning application determined shortly.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) was ordered to pay out more than £40,000 last year to compensate residents who complained about service failures to the local government watchdog.
More complaints about NNC services were made to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) in 2024/25, with education and children’s services grievances topping the list.
The Ombudsman is a body that investigates complaints made against councils to help resolve issues in a range of areas, including adult social care, housing and planning decisions.
In total, the Council received 119 complaints in 2024/25, compared to 101 the previous year. This has consistently risen each year and more than doubled from the number four years ago, when just 55 complaints were logged.
Of the 119 complaints received, 19 were upheld- up from 17 the previous year. According to the report, NNC was ordered to pay out £43,350 to complainants to remedy its failures.
Almost three-quarters of complaints upheld by the Ombudsman were in education and children’s services, mainly relating to faults in special educational needs provision and delays in issuing care assessment plans. The rest were made up of adult care services, environmental services and public protection and housing.
Speaking at an audit meeting on Monday (September 29), Simon Mills, Assistant Director of Customer Experience at NNC, said there was an increase of 144 per cent in terms of Ombudsman approaches for the children and education area since 2021. However, he added that this was consistent with a national surge in complaints due to external pressures.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
North Northants Council will close all of its country parks this weekend due to weather concerns.
Strong winds are expected and the council has said the parks at East Carlton, Fermyn Woods, Irchester and Sywell will be closed to visitors.
That is just the tip of the iceberg for one dept the £40,000 is only what the ombudsman has ordered NNC to pay
The council has paid out £millions in other compensation for just one dept in the past two years, seen as a response to a FOI