13 Confusing Photos… You Will Have to Look More Than Once Get Free Crypto Check This Out!

You Are Here: 🏠Home  »  Politics   »   Northamptonshire Council Meets To Vote On Huge Cuts

Northamptonshire County CouncilImage copyright PA

Northamptonshire County Council held an emergency meeting a week ago to discuss funding cuts

Massive cuts to jobs and services are expected to be approved by councillors in Northamptonshire later.

The county council, which is facing a funding shortfall of £70m, will discuss an action plan on Thursday that would see budgets for services slashed.

Children's services, road maintece and waste management are among the areas in line for "radical" cuts.

Other councils face similar issues, with East Suss3x planning service cuts to a legal minimum "core offer".

The government sent in commissioners to run Northamptonshire in April after the authority revealed a projected overspend of £21m for 2017-18.

But the council's director of finance was forced to issue a second spending control order to stave off a projected budget shortfall of £60m-£70m this financial year.

Northamptonshire's leader, Conservative Matt Golby, said balancing the county's books would require "some very difficult decisions" including "rigorous controls on spending, recruitment and contracts".

New mother Rachael Ball says she worries over plans to close 21 libraries in Northamptonshire

An unspecified number of redundancies are also expected to be proposed at Thursday's special council meeting.

The threat to cut children's services led to a warning from Anne Longford, the children's commissioner for England.

She said she feared the financial crisis at Northamptonshire County Council would have "catastrophic consequences" for some children.

The Department for Education said it was working across government to ensure Northamptonshire met its legal duties to children.

Research released by the County Council Network (CCN) in June suggested England's 36 shire authorities face funding pressures totalling £3.2bn over the next two years.

Vulnerable children facing 'catastrophe'

Commissioners take over troubled council

Cash-strapped council to sell £53m HQ

CCN chairman and Kent County Council leader Paul Carter said: "Shire counties face a triple whammy of funding reductions, rising demand for services and are the lowest-funded type of authority.

"Counties are shouldering a disproportionate burden and the elastic is close to breaking."

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "The financial challenges facing [Northamptonshire] council are clearly serious and reinforce how important it was that we took swift action to appoint commissioners.

"These commissioners will not stop to work closely with the council as it takes the necessary steps to rebalance its finances."

By Admin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


This website uses cookies to deliver its services and analyze traffic. If you continue to use this website, you accept this. This notification is displayed only once per session. Learn more about this: Privacy Policy