Budget passed including council tax rise in West Northamptonshire despite criticism from opposition

Residents in an average Band D household will see a council tax rise of £1.71 a week, which will go towards WNC’s £431.8 million budget for council services.

A Band D household will pay a yearly council tax of £1,866.98 from April, as the council agreed to raise it by the maximum 4.99 percent. This does not include further precepts set by individual town and parish councils or for fire and police services.

WNC has said the increases in council tax will contribute an extra £19.2 million to fund services.

The council said the budget has grown by £44.2 million, including extra investment into adult and children’s social care, temporary accommodation and home-to-school transport.

Savings of £25 million have also been identified for 2025/26, which the council says have been made possible through reviewing and changing services to become more efficient.

A general contingency budget of £11.3 million has been set aside to cover any future budget risks if and when they arise, which reflects the process followed in previous years. There is currently a forecast overspend of £5.1 million in this financial year, after WNC used all of its 2024/25 contingency funds.

Councillor Malcolm Longley, cabinet member for finance, said the council took a “planned and prudent approach” after identifying a funding shortfall of nearly £50 million early in the budget-setting process.

“Setting our budget has once again been complex and challenging given the ongoing pressures on public sector finances and the increasing demand for children’s and adults services, which account for 58p in every pound of our budget in the year ahead,” he added.

Opposition amendments

The financial plans were opposed by other political groups on the council, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats each tabling eight of their own amendments to the budget.

Labour Councillor Keith Holland-Delamere (Billing and Rectory Farm) criticised the “pace of change” in the new unitary for being slow. He said: “For yet another year we continue to see local government struggling to meet statutory requirements within budgets, with soaring adult social care and more children becoming dependent on council support. But that does not excuse the financial decisions made by the administration in this budget.

“We’re once again cruising on auto-pilot. We need to have a bolder vision for our communities. Hope and a future is longed for already, not more of the same old, same old – we need change.”

He asked the chamber to support his group’s swathe of new measures – including a community skip scheme, additional neighbourhood wardens, improving walkways, offering two hours free parking in underused town centre car parks and employing a social housing officer. The group predicted the measures would cost an extra £1.1 million this year.

WNC leader Councillor Adam Brown disputed that change had been slow, stating that a local government peer review had “applauded” them for the progress made. He added that many of the group’s suggestions needed allocation within existing budgets, not new funding provisions, and that they could look at exploring schemes such as community skips and improving walkways.

The Lib Dems’ eight amendments were also met with hesitation from the chamber, despite murmurs of agreement on some topics. Proposals included investing in counsellors and safeguarding teams in schools, better policy on solar panels being used on farmland, purchasing social housing, and supporting businesses in rural areas.

After going to individual votes, all Labour and Lib Dem amendments were defeated.

‘All we see is costs going up’

Councillor Ian McCord, leader of the Independent group, raised concerns about the children’s trust budget, saying that a history of overspending does not give him “confidence” that the programme of savings would be enough for the immense cost pressures and demand.

Leader of the Labour group Wendy Randall also criticised the budget for doing the “same old”.

“I don’t see that we are doing anything different here,” she said. “All we see is costs going up and residents being asked to pay extra to cover those costs. We need to start looking outside of the box.”

Cllr Brown said that council tax was a “key source of income” and that without increases the only choice they would have would be “horrendous service cuts”.

Deputy leader Councillor Matt Golby added: “A huge amount of work has gone into this [budget]. We’ve got some really good strategies and things that are going on in this council to really improve the lives of our residents.”

The council’s 2025/26 budget was passed with 42 votes in favour, seven against and 12 abstentions.