Cash-strapped council warned at special meeting that cuts of up to £70m will put vulnerable people in danger

Crisis-hit Northamptonshire county council faced angry recriminations at a special council meeting last night to discuss its response to a massive financial crisis regarded by experts as “unparalleled in modern times”.

The Conservative-run council, which is technically insolvent and has to make up to £70m of cuts over the next few months to balance its books, has warned that it will in future be able to offer only stripped-back of services to residents.



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Opposition councillors told the meeting on Wednesday evening that the council was paying the price for years of mismanagement and ideological folly. They warned that the proposed cuts would put vulnerable residents in danger and predicted that the council would face legal challenges to its plans to restrict services.

“We are witnessing the culmination of 13 years driven by an ideology that put private profit before public need,” Labour councillor Danielle Stone told the meeting.

Labour councillor Winston Strachan said that for the first time in 17 years as a councillor, he had had to say “I am sorry, we have no money” to someone who asked for help. “That is an absolute disaster,” he added.

The council leader, Matt Golby, admitted to the meeting that the council “needed to start to win back the trust of the public”.

Earlier, Golby had said he wanted to establish a “hierarchy of priorities” to enable the council to identify major cuts over the next few weeks. “We are now at the starting point of the very long journey of realigning our budget,” he said.

Golby offered no details of what cuts were in store, other than that the future “core offer” from the council would be one that “aims to fulfil our [legal] duties and offer support to those most in need only”.

The meeting came just days after councillors were issued with a formal notice from by the council finance director in which he warned that it could not meet its legal obligation to balance the budget without cuts to services for vulnerable children and adults.

Meanwhile, local charities warned that further cuts to children’s services in the county would heighten the risk that the council would be unable protect vulnerable youngsters. “Ultimately, the funding for children’s services is insufficient to provide a safe service,” a report by the charities concludes.

It said the council faced an acute shortage of social workers, with nearly a quarter of posts currently vacant. More cuts to early-help services for struggling families mean that many could could end up needing emergency intervention.

Sally Keeble, a former Labour MP for Northampton North and a co-author of the report, said: “I have no doubt at all that the position currently is that children are at risk, and that if the cuts go ahead they will be even more at risk.”



Facebook Twitter Pinterest The council warned it could not meet its legal obligation to balance the budget without cuts to services for vulnerable children and adults. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The trade union Unison, which fears that hundreds of jobs will be cut from the council’s 3,400-strong workforce, has warned that the council is going too far. Branch secretary Penny Smith said: “The council is at risk of failing to keep children and vulnerable people safe. This could cost lives.”

Northamptonshire went into effective bankruptcy in February, and after a critical government inspector’s report the following month, sent in commissioners to oversee the management of the council in May.

Andrew Gwynne, the shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, said: “Government cuts are pushing our councils into crisis, and the crisis in Northamptonshire is the canary in the coal mine. Despite one of their own councils effectively declaring themselves bankrupt twice this year, we have yet to see [the] government recognise the appalling consequences of their austerity programme for people up and down the country.

“Instead, Philip Hammond warned councils today to expect further cuts. Unless we rapidly see a change of direction, Northamptonshire will not be the last council in crisis, and the people of Northants will not be the last to have to bear the burden for Tory neglect.”

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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The financial challenges facing the council are clearly serious and reinforce how important it was that we took swift action to appoint commissioners. These commissioners will continue to work closely with the council as it takes the necessary steps to rebalance its finances.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) said the Northamptonshire crisis highlighted the need for the government to increase spending for local government. Cllr Richard Watts, chair of the LGA’s resources board, said: “Local government in England faces an overall funding gap of almost £8bn by 2025. Plugging this gap would just keep services standing still and does not include any funding needed to improve services or reverse any cuts made to date.

“The next spending review will be make-or-break for local services and must recognise the urgent need to tackle the funding gap facing local government to improve the lives of residents and reduce pressure on other parts of the public sector.”

The director of the County Councils Network, Simon Edwards, said: “It is clear that, partly due to past failings, the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer. However, we can’t ignore that some of the underlying causes of the challenges facing Northamptonshire, such as dramatic reductions to council budgets and severe demand for services, mean county authorities across the country face funding pressures of £3.2bn over the next two years.”

