Commissioners to take direct financial control of Northants council
I had heard there were as many as 40 Councils close to the Northamptonshire experience – this article suggests I was wong but 15 is worrying enough! It tells us in terms of Northamptonshire:
The council was forced to impose emergency spending controls after admitting that “severe financial challenges” meant it was unable to meet its obligations in the current financial year.
It issued a section 114 notice, the first council to do so in two decades. This imposed financial controls and banned expenditure on all services except those with statutory safeguarding obligations.
The National Audit Office has suggested that up to 15 other local councils could follow suit in the next three years as they struggle to cope with increasing demand for social care at the same time as coping with a 50% cut in central government funding over the last eight years.
Max Caller, who led the government investigation, said the council’s problems were so deep and ingrained it would be impossible for it to return to “stability and safety” in a reasonable timescale on its own.