West Northamptonshire Council Draft Budget 2025 to 2026 Consultation

Overview

Give us your views on the Council’s Budget proposals for the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

Each year West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) plans for the money it will have available and how it should be spent on delivering services in line with the priorities and objectives set out in its Corporate Plan. The Council’s Cabinet approved plans to consult the public on WNC’s draft 2025-26 budget proposals on 10 December 2024.

Our plans and budget proposals make sure that resources are prioritised and allocated to support the most vulnerable in our local community in the most cost-effective way possible.

In developing the budget proposals, we have focused on making the best use of our resources to support the most vulnerable in our community supporting the people and places in West Northants to thrive. Our draft budget aims to carefully address key financial challenges ensuring that essential services can be protected and maintained, and that the authority also continues to remain financially sustainable.

Our main proposals

Despite the financial challenges, we are on course to set a balanced budget for 2025-26 through careful and early review.

Key headlines for the 2025-26 draft budget include:

• Providing a balanced draft budget that uses the best information we have right now. This makes sure we have enough money to properly fund all of our expected and known expenses within the base budget.
• Making sure our legal duties can be met, even with higher demand and increased costs for essential services.
• Maximising service efficiencies in order to maintain and protect services as much as possible with proposed savings totalling £26.2m.
• Fees and Charges reviewed and where appropriate increased to reflect increased cost of service delivery or an inflationary uplift, where residents and businesses have a choice about whether they wish to use that service or not.
• £41m of additional base budget growth which reflects the increased demand for services encountered in this financial year and expected to continue into next year.

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Housing Revenue Account Budget

The Council has also published a draft Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget for 2025 to 2026. The HRA is a ring-fenced account which records the cost of managing the Council’s housing stock.

Within the HRA are proposals to invest £77m in social housing during the next financial year, which will form part of a total five year capital programme amounting to £261m.

The Council is considering a 2.7% increase in average rents from 1 April 2025, which aligns with the Government’s Rent Standard. This would mean an average increase of £3.01 per week. Service charges and garage rents would also see a 2.7% increase. These adjustments are essential to ensure we can continue maintaining and providing quality housing.

Due to the ongoing cost of living pressures, any leftover money from the 2024 to 2025 hardship fund will be carried over to 2025 to 2026. This will help support tenants who are facing extra financial difficulties because of the increase.

Related Documents

Please read the related documents for a better understanding of the budget proposals before you comment on them. The below links open in a new window.

• Cabinet Meeting Draft Budget 2025-26 Draft Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan report, and its appendices:
  • Appendix A – 2025-26 Draft Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan Budget Summary
  • Appendix B – Draft Budget Proposals 2025-26
  • Appendix C – Fees and Charges
  • Appendix D – Draft Dedicated Schools Grant
  • Appendix E – Draft General Fund Capital Programme 2025-29
  • Appendix Ei – Council Budget proposals log 2025-26 onwards

• 2025-26 Draft Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan
  • Appendix 1 – Draft HRA Revenue Budget 2025-26 Summary
  • Appendix 2 – Draft Rent Increases Inflation Growth and Efficiencies
  • Appendix 3 – Draft HRA Capital Programme
  • Appendix 4 – Draft Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH) Management Fee
  • Appendix 5 – Draft Schedule of Rents and Service Charges

Have your say

Your views on all our draft budget proposals are really important to us.

This consultation provides further details of the budget proposals. You do not have to answer all the questions or give us your feedback on every section. It is split into sections so that people can give their views on what they want to. Please note that you need to answer the ‘About You’ section to be able to submit your response.

Answer this consultation by accessing the 'Have your say' link below. Alternatively, you can send your comments in by email or post.

Email address: haveyoursay@westnorthants.gov.uk

Postal address:

• Budget Consultation Response
• West Northamptonshire Council
• The Guildhall 
• St Giles' Street
• Northampton
• NN1 1DE

You can also access this questionnaire online free of charge at any West Northamptonshire Council managed library. Please visit our website or telephone 0300 126 7000 to check opening times.

If you have any queries, comments or need a copy of this questionnaire in another format you can contact us by email, post or phone using the detail above.

All consultation feedback will be analysed and considered to help councillors make a final decision on the budget at WNC’s Full Council meeting on 20 February 2025.

The deadline for completing this questionnaire is midnight Tuesday 21 January 2025.

Your feedback will be part of a report with other people’s feedback, so you will not be personally identified.

For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice.

Thank you for helping us by completing this consultation.

What happens next

Your feedback on this consultation is really important to us.

Following the consultation period, we will analyse and consider the results and then final budget proposals will be developed before going back to the West Northamptonshire Council's Cabinet meeting on 11 February 2025 and Full Council on 20 February 2025.

The Full Council meeting is held in public. Anyone wishing to submit a statement to the meeting must contact Democratic Services by email, by post or in person (The Guildhall, St Giles' Street, Northampton, NN1 1DE) by 12 noon 19 February 2025.

Up to three members of the public are permitted to speak for up to three minutes each on any agenda item although this may be extended at the Chair’s discretion.