Significant progress achieved following peer challenge review

29 January 2025

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has demonstrated substantial progress following last year’s Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge. 

Professionals from a range of local authorities across the country visited the area in March 2024 to assess the Council’s performance. 

This highlighted a strong start since the WNC’s launch in 2021 and identified a series of actions which would take that work to the next level. 

During a return visit in November, the team reviewed all of these areas and in their report just published they noted that “the council has made tangible progress since March 2024 and should be commended for that progress and its renewed optimism and confidence for the future”. 

They recognised a number of advancements since the initial challenge, including: 

Vision and Ambition 

• The council launched its One West Northamptonshire draft vision for the area, focusing on ‘Thriving People’, ‘Thriving Place’, and an ‘Efficient and Enabling Council’ - they commented that this had created a palpable buzz across partners
• A Housing Delivery Board has been established to drive delivery of the Council’s Affordable Homes Delivery Plan

Customer Engagement and Reputation 

Budget Sustainability and Risk 

• The Medium-Term Financial Plan has been updated, addressing a £53m budget gap for 2025/26
• The council resolved technical issues related to the former Northamptonshire County Council’s balance sheet, finalising its accounts and avoiding arbitration
• Investments in property development and town centre support are under way to bolster the council’s revenue budget

As noted in the report “members and officers are noticeably buoyant and energetic about the challenges ahead and how they are tackling or planning to tackle them”. 

“Of course we’re pleased with the latest update from our peer challenge group, though we’re clear that it’s by no means ‘job done’.

“Now we have taken these incredibly positive steps forward, we will be building on that work with further activity including the launch of our Family Hubs and delivery of our Economic Growth Strategy.

“The One West Northamptonshire plan is our approach to delivering on our aspiration of making West Northants ‘a great place to live, visit and thrive’, and we will be working with partners across the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring that to life over the next five years.

“We are currently seeking feedback on the plan and I would encourage everyone to read though and fill out the survey.”

WNC Leader, Cllr Adam Brown

Details of the One West Northamptonshire plan and how to get involved can be found on the Council’s website. The full peer review progress report is also available on the website.