North Northamptonshire Council introduces spending controls

The council said cost pressures were particularly acute for adult care services

New spending controls are being introduced at a council to make sure it stays within its budget this year.

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has set up a new panel to approve or reject all expenditure above £500.

Another panel will consider every appointment made by the authority of permanent and agency staff.

The leader of the council, Jason Smithers, said: "We must take prudent and proactive steps to manage the challenge ahead."

As first reported in the Northamptonshire Telegraph, Mr Smithers emailed staff to say that despite a "wide range of efficiency savings", the council needed "further robust action to manage the significant challenge ahead and reduce spend".

Mr Smithers said the council had made £27m of savings since the council was created in 2021 and had identified £15m of cost reductions in the current year.

Council leader Jason Smithers told staff all expenditure over £500 and all recruitment would have to be approved

He added that the cost pressures facing the council had been particularly acute this year for the Children's Trust, which runs care services for young people, and the adult social care service.

Mr Smithers noted that "these pressures are not unique to North Northamptonshire; they reflect the national picture".

The email went on to say that the council had "put in place two immediate measures that will help manage spend and these will apply initially for the next three months".

They are:

• A Spending Management Panel to review and control spending of £500 and above by considering mini business cases

• A Staffing Approval Panel to approve all recruitment to permanent and agency staff positions

Staff appointments at the Corby Cube and other council buildings will have to be approved by a panel

Mr Smithers told the BBC: "Introducing measures to tighten spending controls is exactly the sort of thing a well-run, responsible council does and is common practice in the sector.

"We have a very healthy balance of reserves, which helps insulate us from veering towards reaching a very precarious position, but rather than dip into them, we've made the sensible decision to tighten our belts."