Friday brief: Unitaries must agree their debt dispute if they want government cash assistance
Plus news from across the county
North and West Northamptonshire unitary authorities must resolve their dispute about where the debts of the former bankrupt county council lie, as a condition of new ‘exceptional financial support’ scheme.
The two authorities were on the list of 19 issued by the government last week, which will benefit from a loosening of financial rules. The financial exemption means they can use money made from selling assets on day to day spending. The money announced by the government is not new money, or extra money given by the treasury.
West Northants has been allowed flexible use of £6.6m and the North £3.9m.
As NN Journal reported in December, the two councils are in dispute about the colossal sum of just under £1bn which was owed by the county council, which collapsed in 2018 and led to local government reorganisation in Northants.
We understand the argument is over a sum somewhere in the region of £40m.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) said another condition was to provide the government with an update on the transformation. When the new councils were set up £50m was set aside to transform services.
WNC Leader at West Northamptonshire Council, said:
“All councils nationwide including ourselves are navigating significant financial challenges due to rising demand and cost of services.
“We specifically applied to carry over unspent capital funds from last year and change the purpose for which they are earmarked. Our intention is to undertake a number of actions which will help transform and improve our children’s and SEND services and therefore reduce the cost and pressure on the council’s finances.
“This strategic approach aligns with our commitment to financial sustainability, as outlined in our budget plans. The request will allow us to fund projects which will reduce the number of people requiring social care and therefore reducing the amount we spend in this area.”
Both councils are currently over budget as they run up to the end of the financial year. The majority of the overspend is down to the children’s services, with the lion’s share of that being down to the cost of private placements for looked after children.
News in brief
North Northamptonshire Council’s car parks made more than one million last year, a freedom of information request by the BBC local democracy reporting service has revealed.
NNC manages 27 free car parks and 13 paid within the county- including its five country parks. The authority says the money made is spent on the maintenance and provision of all of its parking, as well as the country parks themselves.
The biggest earners between January and December last year were both in Kettering, on London Road and Wadcroft. They earned £209,500 and £191,894 respectively across the whole of 2023.
Country parks in Irchester and Sywell were the next biggest earners ( accruing £186,513 and £181,020 in total for the year) and Parklands Gateway in Corby added a £124,798 to the council’s funding pot.
The top five alone brought in a combined total sum of £893,725 for the authority, however only £26,629 went back into the sites for maintenance and running costs in that same period. Across all council-owned car parks in North Northants in 2023 a substantial £1,347,521 was made.
Changes are to be made to the cost of parking in the council’s country parks from April due to increased costs of running the parks and inflationary pressures.
There will be a new flat fee of £3.50. According to the 2024/25 budget, this will result in £20,000 of savings for the local authority.
Cllr Smithers said:
“The rationale for this is to accommodate the increased cost of providing the parks resulting from inflationary pressures but also to simplify the charges and reduce delays at the machines caused by visitors having to select from multiple tariffs and to use an easy coinage as a significant proportion of visitors still use cash at the machines.”
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Oundle will have the most expensive council tax bill in North Northants from April.
A band D home in the market town will pay £1,740.22 to NNC (including a £238 adult social care precept), £306.04 to the police, £75.39 to the fire authority, and a further £249.91 to Oundle Town Council, adding up to £2,371.56.
Oundle Town Council raised its precept by 2.5 per cent for 2024/2025 and North Northamptonshire Council upped its charge by 4.99 per cent.
Irthlingborough and Raunds also feature at the higher end of council tax bills in North Northants. Irthlingborough Town Council set a precept of £200 for its residents, as well as Raunds Town Council who will be charging an additional £183.55 on top of base county rates.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
Westminster Watch
The four Conservative MPs in the West of the county held a joint conference at the weekend in Roade.
Junior minister Andrea Leadsom, Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, Andrew Lewer and former attorney general Michael Ellis gathered with leading conservative councillors to brainstorm new ideas for the 2025 Conservative manifesto.
This is the first time such a conference has been held. The date of the next general election is unknown, however, could be as soon as May if the PM decides to call it.
Read in full
The paywall has now been removed from yesterday’s exclusive about another criminal investigation concerning Northants top cop Nick Adderley.
Read it here
Exclusive: Second police force begins criminal investigation into Northants chief constable
Add your email to our list to receive our regular free articles. By Sarah Ward The criminal investigation into Northants suspended chief constable has widened to a second force. Staffordshire Police, where Nick Adderley was assistant chief constable from 2015 to…
After 3 years of arguing, why don't WNC and NNC just swallow £20m each from reserves? They could then concentrate on running services efficiently and cost effectively. I note that the low tax Tories of NNC are again raising council tax by the maximum they can.....
When the Conservative councillors bankrupted the County Council leaving just under £1bn in debt, we re-elected those same people to have another go with the new unitary authorities! Either we are a very patient and forgiving electorate, or we are stubbornly partisan.