New councils hiring as staff give notice

A union survey is currently being held to understand what is happening with vacancies across the new councils

By Sarah Ward

The two councils have lost more than 150 staff since they were founded in April.

More than 150 employees have handed their notices in to the two new unitary councils since they formed three months ago.

Ninety-one staff have decided West Northamptonshire Council is not the place for them and 71 employees at North Northamptonshire Council have also handed in their notice to their new employer since the authorities were formed on April 1.

Unison, which has hundreds of members across the two councils, launched a members survey at the start of this month to try and gauge what is going on with vacancies after receiving a number of calls with employees raising concerns about their departments.

Between them the two authorities now employ 4700 staff  - the West has 2388 full time staff and the North has 2412 (plus just under 650 temporary staff).

The new councils have been formed out of the merger of the eight former local authorities that used to provide services in Northamptonshire,…