Daventry District Council in ‘healthy and stable’ position as budget is set for final year of existence

The budget for 2020/21 was agreed at Daventry District Council this week. It is the last time the council will set a budget before it is abolished next year

That is the verdict of the councillor in charge of finance, Councillor Colin Morgan, as he presented the authority’s final ever budget last night (February 20), with the proposals being voted through.

The budget sees council tax increase by almost £5, which works at out just under 10p a week extra. It means the average band D property in the district will pay £147.91 to the district council this year, an increase of £4.93 on the figure last year which stood at £142.98.

Standing at £17.5 million, the revenue budget for 2020/21 – money that will be spent on the day-to-day running of its services – has been boosted by a 1.5 per cent increase in the funding settlement that the council is expected to receive from the government. It also sees the council’s reserves levels standing at £30.5 million.

Councillor Morgan said: “We find ourselves in a healthy and stable position as we set the budget for our final year as DDC. This enables us to ensure we can deliver upon a range of projects over the next 12 months to improve our local communities, including a new cinema for Daventry and a new leisure centre for residents in the east of our district. Applying a small increase to our part of the council tax bill will also make a big difference towards helping to maintain local services.

“In the face of the severe funding pressures continuing across local government, we’ve worked hard to be able to deliver a prudent and balanced budget which will hold us in good stead as we enter the new unitary authority.”

Daventry is set to see its services moved to the new West Northamptonshire Council, which will launch on April 1 next year. It will also serve Northampton and South Northamptonshire, whose borough and district councils are also being abolished.

The new council was approved in parliament last week, and comes after recommendations from a government inspector following the cash crisis at Northamptonshire County Council.

While the county council looked after things such as roads, schools and libraries, the district was responsible for areas such as waste, recycling and planning. All those services will be under one roof at the new West Northamptonshire Council.

No alternative budgets were presented at the meeting last night, with the budget gaining support from all councillors with the exception of one objection and one abstention in the Labour group. Both Liberal Democrat councillors also supported the Conservative budget.

The district council collects the council tax but only receives about eight per cent of the sum, with the vast majority (69 per cent) going to the county council. Council tax bills will be issued to households district-wide from March 2 onwards.