North Northamptonshire Council

Council Spending and Efficiency · drafted 2026-07-02 · accepted · 13 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

17 Jun 2025On 17 June 2025 North Northamptonshire's Executive resolved to approve the commencement of an internally-run Efficiency Review of the Council's financial management, procurement and governance arrangements, delegating the detailed scope to the Executive Director of Finance (s151 officer) in consultation with the Leader and Executive Member for Finance, Efficiency and Change. [1]

17 Jun 2025A public speaker at the 17 June 2025 Executive meeting welcomed what he described as the Council's departure from Reform UK's national 'Doge' policy in favour of its own internal Efficiency Review. [2]

17 Jun 2025The Executive approved commencement of an 'Efficiency Review' of the Council's financial management, procurement and associated governance arrangements (17 June 2025), delegating scope-setting to the s151 officer; members were explicitly assured the review would focus on efficiencies, processes, and policy rather than targeting officers, and by December 2025 it had produced a savings figure (£21.239m for 2026/27) rather than a senior-management restructure or post-deletion decision. [3][4][5]

26 Jun 2025At Full Council on 26 June 2025 Cllr Helen Harrison asked the Leader to confirm whether the Efficiency Review agreed by the Executive on 17 June 2025 was 'in effect, the North Northamptonshire Council's version of DOGE' and whether outside persons would be engaged; the Leader's written answer confirmed the Council had not received any request for outside persons or consultants to be involved and that there would be no cost to taxpayers, with normal governance and Executive approval required before any outside persons could be instructed. [6][7][8]

26 Jun 2025In answer to a full Council question (26 June 2025) asking whether the Council's Efficiency Review (agreed by the Executive on 17 June 2025) was the council's version of 'DOGE' and whether outside persons/consultants would be engaged, the Council confirmed no consultants had been engaged and that any future use would require Executive approval and democratic scrutiny — i.e. no decision to cut, cap or engage consultancy spend had been taken at that point. [9]

12 Aug 2025North Northamptonshire's Executive received a Q1 2025/26 Performance Indicator Report (12 Aug 2025) noting workforce data showing progress on reducing reliance on agency staff, which the Executive simply noted as performance monitoring — this is a reported trend, not a formal cabinet decision setting a reduction or cap target for agency/interim spend, and no £ figure was attached to it. [10]

18 Sep 2025A Housing service restructure (repairs/maintenance and housing management) was described to the Tenant Advisory Panel between September 2025 and April 2026, replacing 2 area manager posts with 4 Housing Manager posts and creating a new Service Improvement Team; officers said the restructure budget 'includes deletion of some old posts that are no longer required', but this was operational/service-level restructuring reported informally at a tenant panel, not a formal Cabinet/Council decision on senior or management-tier posts under the pay-policy-statement duty, and no headcount or £ figure for deleted posts was given. [11][12][13]

16 Dec 2025By its 16 December 2025 Efficiency Review Update, the Executive resolved to note that the internal review had produced a savings plan of £28.643m for 2025/26 (93% delivered or due to be delivered) and £21.239m of savings proposed for 2026/27 incorporated into the budget, run as a line-by-line internal budget review rather than a paid external consultancy engagement. [14][15]

16 Dec 2025North Northamptonshire's Executive noted (16 Dec 2025, 'Efficiency Review Update') a Council-wide savings plan of £28.643m for 2025/26 (93% delivered/due) and £21.239m of savings incorporated into the 2026/27 budget from its line-by-line budget review; this is a general efficiency/MTFP savings programme with no line item, target or cap specific to consultancy or agency/interim-staff spend. [16]

16 Dec 2025At the Executive meeting of 16 December 2025, the Executive resolved (Efficiency Review Update item) to note the Council's savings plans forecast for 2025/26 and the savings incorporated into the draft 2026/27 budget proposals, as part of its ongoing transformation programme to deliver financial sustainability. [17]

21 May 2026North Northamptonshire Council has been led by a Reform UK administration since the May 2025 elections, with Cllr Martin Griffiths as Leader and Cllr Graham Cheatley as Deputy Leader (Finance, Efficiency & Change portfolio then Deputy Leader) confirmed for the 2026/27 municipal year, the administration that adopted the £20.1m 2026/27 savings/efficiencies budget. [18]

9 Jun 2026Reporting to the Executive on 9 June 2026 on the 2025/26 financial year outturn, officers stated the Council had set a savings target of £28.6m for 2025/26, of which £24.6m had been delivered by year end. [19]

At Full Council on 19 February 2026, North Northamptonshire's Reform UK administration (Cllr Martin Griffiths, Leader) adopted its 2026/27 General Fund Revenue Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan, with cost pressures and service investment offset by stated savings, efficiencies and income generation of £20.1m; the budget motion (moved by Deputy Leader Cllr Graham Cheatley, seconded by Leader Cllr Martin Griffiths) was carried after Conservative and Labour amendments were voted down. [20][21][22]

References (22)
  1. Decisions, 17 June 2025 “Approved the commencement of a review of the Council’s financial management, procurement and associated governance arrangements.”
  2. Minutes, 17 June 2025 “He welcomed the Council’s apparent departure from Reform UK’s national “Doge” policy.”
  3. Decisions, 17 June 2025 “Approved the commencement of a review of the Council’s financial management, procurement and associated governance arrangements.”
  4. Minutes “assurance that the review would focus on efficiencies, processes, and policy rather than targeting officers”
  5. Minutes, 16 December 2025 “From work carried out as part of the efficiency review and budget setting process, savings of £21.239m had been proposed for 2026/27 and had been incorporated into the budget.”
  6. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “Will the Leader or the Council please confirm that the Efficiency Review agreed by the Executive Committee on the 17th June 2025 is, in effect, the North Northamptonshire Council's version of DOGE, and that no outside persons (political or otherwise) will be engaged to carry out this review?”
  7. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “The Council has not yet had any request for any outside persons or consultants to be involved in an Efficiency Review of the Council.”
  8. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “There will be no cost to the taxpayers of North Northamptonshire.”
  9. Minutes, 26 June 2025 “The Council has not yet had any request for any outside persons or consultants to be involved in an Efficiency Review of the Council.”
  10. Minutes, 12 August 2025 “Appendices A to C provided detailed breakdowns, including workforce data showing progress in reducing reliance on agency staff.”
  11. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “Prior to the restructure we had 2 managers in post – 1 in Kettering and 1 in Corby.”
  12. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “our aim is to have smaller patches and 4 Housing Managers, with areas split between them”
  13. Minutes, 18 December 2025 “It also includes deletion of some old posts that are no longer required.”
  14. Minutes, 16 December 2025 “Within 2025/26, there was a savings plan of £28.643m, of which 93% had been delivered or was due to be delivered by the year end.”
  15. Minutes, 16 December 2025 “savings of £21.239m had been proposed for 2026/27 and had been incorporated into the budget”
  16. Minutes, 16 December 2025 “Within 2025/26, there was a savings plan of £28.643m, of which 93% had been delivered or was due to be delivered by the year end.”
  17. Decisions, 16 December 2025 “Item 8 Efficiency Review Update RESOLVED That the Executive: a) Noted the Council’s savings plans forecasted for 2025/26 as set out in table 1. b) Noted the savings incorporated into the budget for 2026/27 as set out in table 2.”
  18. Minutes, 21 May 2026 “Leader of the Reform UK Group Councillor Martin Griffiths Deputy Leader of the Reform UK Group Councillor Graham Cheatley”
  19. Minutes, 9 June 2026 “We had set a savings target of £28.6m and of that £24.6m had been delivered. This was a strong delivery rate, but some savings had not been achieved and have impacted the budget.”
  20. Minutes “Cost pressures and service investment would be, in part, offset by savings, efficiencies and income generation of £20.1m, which included the continuation of savings already included as part of the 2026-27 medium term financial plan and which remained deliverable”
  21. Minutes “Cllr Graham Cheatley moved, and Cllr Martin Griffiths seconded the motion setting”
  22. Minutes “RESOLVED That Council: a) Approves the 2026/27 Revenue Budget which includes:”