Council with £13.8m overspend 'failed by government'

A council that went over budget by £13.8m has blamed government "neglect" and warned it could not absorb financial pressure indefinitely.

The Reform UK-led North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) had to raid its reserves to finish the last financial year on budget, with the main pressure in social care spending.

Graham Cheatley, executive member for finance, told a meeting it needed a "genuinely fair funding settlement" from the government, with leader Martin Griffiths stating the council "is not failing, it is being failed by national government".

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.

The comments came as the local authority's executive signed off on its end-of-year accounts for 2025-26, with the budget set at £406m by the previous Conservative administration.

Children's and adult social care went over budget by £13.9m and £3.7m respectively, which was partially offset by other council services underspending, the meeting heard.

Cheatley said councils all over the country were "being squeezed from every direction" and the cost of social care alone consumed up to 58% of local budgets.

"More councils are relying on exceptional financial support and Section 114 [bankruptcy] notices, once rare, have become normalised," he told the chamber.

"It's the direct consequence of years of neglect by successive governments, now compounded by a Labour administration that has failed to deliver a genuinely fair funding settlement.

"We are being asked to deliver more services to more people with less money.

"This authority will continue to manage its finances responsibly, but I want to be absolutely clear that without a proper long-term and genuinely fair funding settlement, councils like ours cannot continue to absorb these pressures indefinitely."

The three Labour MPs in North Northamptonshire have previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there had been a '"marked improvement" in investment compared to the previous government.

In 2024-25, NNC overspent by £400,000, down from £9.2m in 2023-24.

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