The Place and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Monday 27 April 2026 to discuss the council's financial position, performance against the One West Northamptonshire Plan, and its annual report. The committee noted an estimated £5.9 million overspend for the 2025-26 financial year, primarily driven by significant overspends in adult and children's social care. Members also reviewed the Q3 performance report, highlighting concerns about the timeliness of data and the need for clearer metrics in areas such as economic growth and highway maintenance.

Revenue Monitoring and Medium Term Financial Strategy Update

The committee received an update on the council's financial position for the 2025-26 financial year, which is currently in its provisional outturn period. The initial reported overspend of £7.9 million has been reduced to an estimated £5.9 million, an improvement of £2 million. This improvement is attributed to various factors, including an additional £1.5 million in adult social care client contribution income and £0.5 million in business rates income. However, the overall overspend remains a concern, with adult social care facing a £12.5 million overspend and children's social care a £16.5 million overspend. These challenges have been partially mitigated by using contingency funds and underspends in other services.

Regarding savings delivery for 2025-26, the council had a requirement of £24.6 million, with an estimated £20.4 million (84%) forecast for delivery. This leaves approximately £4 million in undelivered savings, with about half of this being mitigated, resulting in a £2 million hit to the financial position.

The estimated £5.9 million overspend is to be funded from the council's risk reserve, which will leave £6 million remaining in that reserve. The general balance reserve, standing at around £36 million, will remain unaffected. This is the first time the council anticipates ending the financial year in an overspend position.

Looking ahead to the 2027-28 budget setting process, there is a projected deficit of £23.4 million. This figure will be updated in the summer following the Q1 financial results for 2026-27. The council's budget setting process is iterative, with savings requirements from previous years being re-evaluated and incorporated into future budgets. The 2026-27 budget included £64 million for budget growth, encompassing inflation, demographic demand, and structural deficits.

Concerns were raised about the impact of overspends in one service area requiring other departments to bail them out, potentially leading to resentment and an unsustainable financial model. The significant overspends in adult and children's social care were highlighted as the primary drivers of the council's financial challenges.

One West Northamptonshire Plan Performance Report

The committee reviewed the One West Northamptonshire Plan Performance Report for Quarter 3 of 2025-26. Several areas were discussed, with members expressing concerns about the timeliness of the data, which was often several months out of date by the time it reached the committee.

Priority 1 – Productive, Inclusive and Enterprising:

• Supporting the Local Visitor Economy: While initiatives like the new Tourist Information Point and events like Northamptonshire Day were noted, there was a call for clearer metrics on footfall, particularly distinguishing between local and external visitors, and for greater engagement with transport partners.
• Economic Growth and Inward Investment: Members felt that the reporting on economic growth and inward investment was largely narrative, lacking quantifiable measures. There was a request to develop and identify specific metrics to better assess performance in this area.
• Skills & Employment Support: The Connect to Work programme, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), was discussed. While its aims were acknowledged, questions were raised about its governance and the extent of private sector involvement.

Priority 2 – Accessible and Connected:

• Highway Defects: While the data presented showed positive performance in repairing highway defects, members noted a mismatch between this data and the lived experience of residents regarding potholes. It was explained that the data reflected repairs completed before the recent severe winter, and a future report would provide a more accurate picture.
• Fly-tipping: The number of fly-tipping incidents had decreased compared to the previous quarter and year. However, concerns were raised about the consistency of data collection compared to other councils, with West Northamptonshire Council reportedly ranking poorly nationally. It was clarified that the council counts all incidents, regardless of size, which may inflate its figures compared to authorities that only count larger instances. The need for increased enforcement was also highlighted.
• Electric Vehicle Charging Points: The number of charging points was increasing, and West Northamptonshire had more charging points per capita than the East Midlands average, though fewer than the England average.

Priority 3 – Thriving Towns and Neighbourhoods:

• Waste Recycling: Performance in waste recycling and composting remained consistent, with a slight increase in composting in Q2.
• Museum Visitors: Visitor numbers to the Northampton Museum & Art Gallery and Abington Park Museum were above target and showed an increase compared to the previous year.
• Library Visitors: Physical library visitors had decreased slightly from the previous quarter but increased compared to the previous year. Virtual visitors had increased, though future reporting methods for social media engagement might reduce reported numbers.

Priority 4 – More and Better Quality Homes:

• Council Homes: No new council homes were delivered in the quarter, and the cumulative total for the year remained at 28. Concerns were raised about the clarity of reporting, with a need to distinguish between new builds and acquired properties, and to understand the pipeline for both council and social housing.
• Affordable Homes: 219 affordable homes were delivered in the period, with delivery heavily reliant on sustainable urban extension sites.
• Planning Applications: Performance in processing both major and non-major planning applications had improved, with all major applications and the majority of non-major applications processed within agreed timescales. However, a significant number of applications required extensions of time.
• Homelessness Prevention: While the percentage of successful homelessness prevention cases remained under target, work was underway to improve outcomes. It was noted that current data collection did not capture all preventative work happening earlier in the process.

Priority 5 – Best Place to Grow up:

• Children's Trust: Significant concerns were raised about the ongoing overspends within the Northamptonshire Children's Trust, which had incurred a £16.5 million overspend in the current year. The committee expressed a lack of confidence in the future financial stability of the trust, especially given the projected increase in costs for 2026-27. A call was made for in-depth scrutiny of the trust's finances and outcomes, with a focus on understanding why costs were so high and why children entering care often had complex needs. The potential for a joint scrutiny review with the Children's Scrutiny Committee was discussed.
• Education: Performance in completing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) within the statutory 20-week timeframe remained below target, although there had been an improvement in the percentage of EHCPs completed within the timeframe when exceptions were excluded. The number of children with EHCPs had increased significantly. Exclusions and suspensions in primary and secondary schools were noted as being spiky over the last three years, with a concerning increase in suspensions for younger children.

Priority 6 – Best Place to Live & Age Well:

• Adult Social Care: Admissions to residential and nursing care homes for both younger adults and those aged 65+ were performing well compared to national averages, indicating a reduction in long-term support placements. Care Act assessments and carer assessments were also discussed, with a noted decrease in carer assessments compared to the previous year.
• Public Health: Smoking quit rates at 4 weeks were below the national average. Weight management services showed improvement, with a higher percentage of participants achieving a 5% weight loss. Successful completion rates for opiate drug treatment were above the national average, but for alcohol dependence treatment, they were below. NHS Health Checks were below the quarterly target.

Priority 7 – An Efficient and Enabling Council:

• Council Tax and Business Rates Collection: Collection rates for both Council Tax and Business Rates were below target for Q3 but showed a slight improvement compared to the same period last year.
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction Scheme Processing: Processing times for new claims and changes in circumstances for both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction had significantly improved since the implementation of a new system, with most indicators now meeting or close to meeting targets.
• Budget Delivery: The projected outturn for 2025-26 was an overspend of £9.5 million, after using £11.4 million of general budget contingencies.
• Aged Debt: The amount of debt owed to the council and overdue by at least 90 days had slightly increased.
• Invoice Payments: The council continued to perform well in paying invoices within 30 days.
• Agency Staff Spend: Spend on agency staff had decreased in Q3 compared to Q2.
• Staffing and Sickness Absence: Headcount and full-time equivalent employees had slightly increased compared to the previous quarter but were lower than the previous year. Sickness absence was trending higher than pre-pandemic levels, with actions being taken to address this. Staff turnover was below the East Midlands average.

Annual Report 2025/26 of the Place and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The committee reviewed and endorsed its draft Annual Report for 2025/26. The report highlighted the committee's work throughout the year, including scrutiny of the budget, performance against the One West Northamptonshire Plan, housing delivery, and the Local Plan communications plan. It acknowledged the challenges faced by the council, particularly in adult and children's social care, and the impact of these on the overall financial position. The report also noted a significant change in the approach to performance scrutiny, with the One West Northamptonshire Plan Performance Report now to be presented to all three Overview and Scrutiny committees.

Review of Committee Work Programme

The committee discussed its work programme for the upcoming months. Key items to be addressed include a more in-depth scrutiny of the Children's Trust finances, a review of the budget scrutiny process, and a discussion on preparedness for winter, particularly concerning highway maintenance. The Section 106 Agreements / Community Infrastructure Levy Task and Finish Panel's report back was rescheduled to September due to delays in its work. The committee also agreed to a joint working group with the Adult Social Care, Health and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee to oversee the Adult Social Care Sustainability Plan.