This meeting was scheduled to consider reports on the financial position of the Council, the performance of several of the Council's key services and contractors, and proposals to regenerate Northampton Town Centre. It was also scheduled to consider the adoption of a strategy on the Council's trees and woodlands. The report pack that was provided to the attendees for the meeting does not tell us what was actually discussed or what was decided.

Draft Budget 2025-26

A report was provided that contains a draft of West Northamptonshire Council's revenue budget for 2025-26 and their Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP). It sets out the financial context for the budget, and describes the process that was followed in developing the draft budget. It describes some of the major pressures on the budget in 2024-25, like the cost of the Northamptonshire Children's Trust, and similar pressures that are expected in 2025-26.

The report pack contained details of several funding assumptions. For example:

The overall Council Tax base for 2025-26 has been estimated at 146,150 (Band D equivalent properties), representing an assumed taxbase growth of 1.5% based on current year trends.

The report pack also details each of the efficiency savings and income generation measures that are proposed for adoption in the 2025-26 budget.

The report contains detailed figures for the budget, with figures for each of the directorates within the Council and for the other funds managed by the Council like the Dedicated Schools Grant and the Public Health Grant.

The report pack contains appendices that detail each of the proposals made to balance the budget, and the draft fees and charges that would be applied under the budget.

It also contains a provisional Dedicated Schools Grant budget, and a draft of the capital programme.

Revenue & Capital Monitoring

The report pack contains two reports on the financial position of the Council. One on the revenue position, and one on the capital position.

The revenue monitoring report describes an overspend of £4.0m on the Council's revenue budget, following the allocation of £10.1m of the general contingency budget that was set aside at the start of the year. The report breaks down this overspend by directorate and identifies some of the main reasons for the variance against budget. These include:

• The rising cost of the Northamptonshire Children's Trust (NCT), which is driven in large part by the cost of children's placements and staffing, and which is expected to cost £6.3m more than the Council's budgeted share of the contract sum.
• Demand for independent care placements within Adult Social Care, which is forecast to cost £12.7m more than the budget allocated to it, and in which: >Total spend has increased by 18% since May 2023 which represents both additional clients and increased costs due to complexity.
• An increase in demand for Home to School transport, which is expected to cost £1.7m more than budgeted for.
• The cost of temporary and supported accomodation, which is due to cost £1.1m more than budgeted for and which is: > due to an increasing number of cases requiring emergency accommodation

The Capital Monitoring report details changes to the capital programme since it was last reported to the Cabinet in September 2024. These include changes to existing schemes, and several new scheme approvals. The report provides a scheme by scheme breakdown of where there is expected slippage in the capital programme, as well as details of any underspends or overspends.

Corporate Plan Performance

A report was provided to update the Cabinet on the performance of the Council against its corporate plan. The report covers the period of July to September 2024.

The report contains several graphs and tables and a short narrative describing performance against each of the indicators.

The report pack also includes a more detailed breakdown of performance against each of the indicators.

Grosvenor Centre

A report was provided that describes a proposed agreement with Evolve, the company that effectively holds the lease on the Grosvenor Centre shopping centre in Northampton, on several matters relating to the Centre. The deal aims to secure for the Council the ability to make productive use of Belgrave House, a former office block over part of the Shopping Centre.

The report describes the history of the Grosvenor Centre, and how the Council came to hold the lease on Belgrave House. It explains that the scheme that was previously proposed to convert Belgrave House into social housing is not financially viable, and that:

assessments indicate no residential use is likely to be viable, partly because of the enhanced requirements for fire protection now in force for taller buildings.

It explains the need to address issues with the roof of the building in the short term:

This is both a requirement of the lease and essential asset management, to prevent damage from water ingress.

The report describes a suite of six agreements that have been proposed to resolve the issues around the use of Belgrave House. These include:

• Agreement A, which would confirm in writing the right of the Council to install renewable energy equipment on the Grosvenor Centre car park, which is a right the report says the Council believes it already has but which Evolve disputes.
• Agreement B, which provides for a loan of up to £2 million from the Council to Evolve to support the introduction of H&M into the Shopping Centre, and for which the report says the Council would seek a parent company guarantee to protect its money.
• Agreement C, which provides for a loan of up to £1 million from the Council to Evolve to support the introduction of flexible workspaces into the Shopping Centre, run by an organisation called Wizu and for which the Council would seek a parent company guarantee to protect its money.
• Agreement D, which would provide for 180 two-hour free parking spaces in the car park for customers of a leisure operator in a vacant unit in the Shopping Centre.
• Agreement E, which provides for a £375k capital investment from the Council in the proposed ‘micro shops’ on the first floor of the Shopping Centre, and a 50:50 share of the net income they generate.
• Agreement F, which provides for a new lease of Belgrave House that would remove most of the restrictions on use and alienation contained in the current lease.

The report says that the agreements are designed to work as a package, but that each agreement stands alone and would only become active if the specified preconditions for it were met. In particular, the report says:

the recommendation is structured to allow the package to proceed even if some of the elements fall away, as long as those agreements which favour WNC proceed

Modernising Meeting Room Equipment

A report was provided to seek approval to procure new audio-visual (AV) equipment for meeting rooms in the Council's offices, including One Angel Square. This would replace the equipment inherited from the four predecessor local authorities. The report describes the existing AV equipment as:

old and, in many cases, not fully functional; it cannot be maintained cost effectively, and is very difficult to use, making it inefficient and unsuitable for holding meetings.

The report argues that in today's working environment:

effective meetings are pivotal for collaboration, decision-making, and productivity

The report pack contains an indicative cost for fitting out all of the meeting rooms with new equipment, and breaks down the costs by type of room. The report says this cost has been identified within the Council's capital programme.

Trees and Woods Strategy

The meeting was scheduled to consider the adoption of a new Trees and Woods strategy for West Northamptonshire.

The report explains that West Northamptonshire has relatively low tree cover. It describes the reasons for developing a new strategy, saying that:

The Council, and town and parish councils in West Northamptonshire, is also responsible for large number of trees either as landowner or highway authority. Despite this, the Council does not currently have a comprehensive plan for managing trees and maximising their benefits.

The report describes the engagement and consultation process that was followed in developing the strategy, and says that the draft Strategy has been revised following consultation. The report says that:

Given the overwhelming support in the consultation, these revisions are more to clarify its approach and add and update some factual material than change its content.

The report pack contains a copy of the strategy and several appendices. These include an action plan for implementing the strategy, a summary of the benefits of trees, and guidance on Capital Asset Valuation of Amenity Trees (CAVAT). There is also a description of the methodology used in the Council's assessment of canopy cover, and an explanation of what a tree management plan would include. The appendices include a guide to tree selection, guidance on the rights and responsibilities of neighbours, case studies of successful tree planting schemes and a summary of the public consultation on the strategy.

Housing Revenue Account

A report was provided to seek approval for consultation of the draft Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget for 2025-26, the draft management fee payable to Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH) and the HRA draft capital programme.

The report sets out the economic context for the budget, including changes that were announced in the recent Autumn Budget statement. It summarises the Council's existing Housing Strategy, which:

sets out the strategic direction for housing activity and services delivered by the council and by other partners

The report contains figures for the draft budget, broken down by cost and income. It describes some of the key assumptions in the budget, including those relating to rent levels and sales and acquisition rates for council houses. It explains the approach the Council takes to managing repairs and maintenance, and the implications of the recent transition to Universal Credit. The report details the process that was followed in determining the proposed management fee for NPH, and it describes the HRA reserve position. The report says that:

It should be noted that the management fee for NPH in 2025-26 will be subject to approval of the HRA by full Council at its meeting in February 2025.

The report summarises the draft capital programme, and the implications for the HRA of recent announcements about fire safety. It describes the funding sources for the HRA's capital projects, and some of the assumptions made in forecasting them.

The report pack contains appendices that summarise the draft HRA budget and MTFP, and the draft growth, efficiency and investment proposals that underpin it. It also contains a copy of the draft HRA capital programme, a breakdown of the proposed NPH management fee, and a schedule of the service charges that would be applied.