West Northamptonshire Council set to publish draft budget by end of month
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is still working to close a budget shortfall for next year, and will likely overspend by more than £10m in the current financial year, as the authority is set to publish its draft 2026/27 budget by the end of the month.
The authority’s place and resources overview and scrutiny committee, which deals with council finances, met on Wednesday, November 26, to present a budget update.
In September, WNC declared it must find £50m in savings to plug a funding gap for next year’s budget, which equates to around 10 per cent of the overall finances. The council further announced at the start of November that cabinet members and senior officers had found £20m in efficiencies out of the estimated shortfall.
A verbal update, given by the assistant director of finance James Smith, stated that the WNC is currently working on three different scenarios from what could be expected from the government’s fair funding formula, which range from an additional income to the council of £10, £15 and £20 million.
According to the officer, the extra funding from the ‘best case scenario’ would mean that WNC is “there or thereabouts” on the budget, but that there are still more savings needed if the council is in the ‘medium’ or ‘worst case’ scenarios from government funding.
Speaking on the NLive Radio politics show at the weekend (Sunday, November 30), council leader Mark Arnull said on the budget process: “What’s now happening with the fairer funding formula is we’ve got data back, our analysts are looking at that and we’re waiting for a report.
“We thought we would be in for a certain amount of money based on some modelling – the position is now looking different and not for the better.
“Which means it makes it highly likely that we’re going to have to take a serious consideration to a maximum council tax rise. I don’t want to go there – if I can not get there, I absolutely won’t.”
He also said that the council will be holding an open forum on the budget with members of the public in the new year, where they will seek to deepen the understanding of local authority finances and what spending can and can’t be cut.
Pressures on the current 2025/26 budget have also increased, raising the predicted overspend for the end of the year to £10.5m. This is largely down to additional demand in adult social care and the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, which are statutory services.
A report containing the 2026/27 draft budget for West Northamptonshire will go before the cabinet on December 22, in a meeting at The Forum, Towcester. Residents will then be able to share their views through a public consultation before the final budget is approved by full council in February 2026.