Cabinet to consider toughest draft budget yet ahead of public consultation plans

18 December 2025

People’s views will be key to shaping West Northamptonshire Council’s most difficult budget to date, with the authority facing no choice than to explore tough options to tackle its significant financial challenges.

The Council, which started its budget process with a £50m shortfall for 2026-27, is exploring various ways to bridge the severe funding gap whilst aiming to protect frontline services as much as possible for the most vulnerable including children, adults and those facing homelessness.

Members of the Council’s Cabinet will meet on Monday, 22 December in the Forum, Towcester to discuss the 2026-27 draft budget report and papers, ahead of a six-week public consultation launching the following day (23 December) to seek people’s views on the proposals. Among the difficult options being explored is to increase the optional garden waste service fee by less than 40p a week, and to review and apply car parking charges fairly and consistently across Daventry, Towcester, Northampton and Brackley. None of the proposals currently put forward in the draft budget are currently agreed nor finalised and residents and businesses will be urged to have their say on them during the six-week public consultation due to launch later next week before Cabinet then re-considers the proposals and proposes a final set of budget proposals to Council in February.

The Council is also working through the detail of its final funding settlement from the Government which could lead to a further review of the draft proposals.

“Our Council is in an extremely challenging financial situation through four years of relentless savings and under funding, with two-thirds of our revenue budget going towards coping with the ever-increasing cost and demand for the services protecting our most vulnerable. To balance the books we simply have no other choice than to explore discretionary services, such as car parking and garden waste collections. We know exploring these won’t be popular but they are services where residents can make a choice if they want to pay for those services or not. The proposals in the draft budget do reflect consideration of what other councils charge as well as the usage of current car parks for example along with seeking to bring a degree of consistency across all of West Northamptonshire.”Councillor Mark Arnull, Leader of the Council

“Having inherited such huge financial challenges, we committed to leaving no stone unturned in our work to finding the savings and income we desperately need to set a balanced revenue budget in 2026-27 and know some of these options are far from palatable for everyone. We understand the concerns people have about some of the options we are exploring and it’s absolutely vital that they let us know so we can consider their views before finalising what options will be within the final budget.”Councillor John Slope, Finance Cabinet Member at WNC

Following the Cabinet meeting, the six-week public consultation will launch on Tuesday 23 December and more details on how to take part will be available on the Council Budget 2026/27 pages

The full timeline is as follows:

• 22 December: Cabinet considers draft budget proposals
• 23 December – 3 February: Public consultation period (subject to Cabinet approval)
• 16 February: Cabinet considers consultation feedback
• 26 February: Full Council makes final budget decision

Watch the Cabinet meeting live from 6pm on Monday, 22 December on our Youtube channel