Northampton Borough Council overspends by £732,000

The overspend on temporary accommodation was party offset by homeless grants from central government

A council which will be scrapped in less than two years has predicted it has overspent its budget by £732,000.

Northampton Borough Council will now have to plug the gap using part of its £25m reserves.

The bulk of the deficit came from spending £1.2m more than anticipated on temporary accommodation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council also has to find £1.88m to help fund the two new authorities for the county.

A report from chief finance officer Stuart McGregor also said the changeover of the environmental services contract contributed heavily to the overspend.

But, the Conservative-led council did underspend in five of its eight service areas.

A full detailed breakdown of the overspend will be presented to members of the borough council's cabinet on Wednesday 12 June.

'Serious public money'

The authority has put together a new board called Northampton Forward to tackle some of the town's long-standing issues, such as homelessness and vacant shops.

It is hoping to secure government funding for the scheme, with leader Jonathan Nunn admitting the plan needed "serious public money".

But the authority is due to be dissolved in April 2021 when two new unitary authorities will take over in Northamptonshire.

It follows the financial crises at county council which has twice imposed spending bans.

The borough council have themselves had financial troubles, with a report earlier this year showing they miscalculated the value of its housing stock by more than £86m.

Also, police are currently investigating a £10.25m loan made by the council to Northampton Town Football Club to redevelop its stadium in 2013.