'Remarkable turnaround, but challenges ahead' say Northamptonshire County Council's commissioners

The government commissioners overseeing Northamptonshire County Council have said the authority has made a ‘remarkable turnaround’ but still has a ‘considerable set of challenges’ ahead.

Tony McArdle and Brian Roberts say there is ‘little margin for error’ in the huge task the authority has in the coming nine months with local government reorganisation and the handing over children’s social services over to an independent company all to be completed against the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis.

In their third report to the government published on July 3 the pair, who were sent in by government two years ago after the authority’s financial collapse, spell out how far the council once dubbed by as the ‘worst council in England’ has come.

They said: “For this insolvent position to have been recovered, the financial operations of the council stabilised and its (pre-Covid-19) forward projections made credible is a remarkable turnaround, achieved in under two years.

“The council’s members, chief executive, chief financial officer, other senior managers and staff have all been commended by us for the roles that they have played in making this possible. Without the stability that this position offers, the council could have done no more than firefight its way through to reorganisation. It now has a financial profile that is comparable to that of other county councils except for its low level of reserves.”

The commissioners say the response from the council and its health partners to the Covid-19 crisis has been impressive, but say the council could be worse impacted by the pandemic than other authorities because of its financial past.

They say: “Northamptonshire, however, has some unique challenges before it in its efforts to resolve them. Not only must it do so with as much application and professional integrity as others, but it must do so from a financial position that is much weaker. While financial discipline and management in the council has been greatly improved, the depletion of its reserves has not been greatly reversed.

“The council simply has less financial resilience, at a time when such resilience may be greatly called upon. The council is also leading on the work to set up the new authorities and establishing a new children’s trust. These are major tasks and require significant diversions of effort. The council’s other services, with the exception of adult social care, are also in the process of recovering themselves from having been run down over many years to a minimal and barely adequate level of capability.

“All of these unique tasks – and it is fully recognised that they all result from a failure for which the county council must fully and solely accept responsibility – would prove challenging on their own, particularly in a council with no historic track record of capability. To be accomplished at the same time as managing an emergency and, at some point, the recovery from it, makes for a most considerable set of challenges.

“As of this moment, it is our view that (subject to unknown eventualities that are beyond the council’s control) the council can deliver against all of these priorities. We could not have said that two years ago – or even a year ago.

“It will, nonetheless, take an immense effort and the application of all of the good qualities that have begun to shine through for it to happen now. There is little margin for error. If this can be accomplished by what was so recently a failed entity, it will enable Northamptonshire County Council to dissolve itself with more credit than it ever managed to accrue in its past. It is a challenge that we believe it is up to.”

Alongside work of a new management team, the council has been put back on its feet by cuts to services across the board and the sale of the council’s headquarters at One Angel Square. Staff also had their pay frozen for two years.