Countdown to new council continues at pace with detailed blueprint

More detail has been published today on the blueprint for the new unitary council for North Northamptonshire.

The detailed blueprint sets out an overarching view of how the services will be delivered and fit together in the new North Northamptonshire authority, including who will deliver them and from where, a plan to transfer safely and legally for go live day on 1 April 2021 and a functional view of the future organisation. These detailed blueprints build on the high-level blueprints which were agreed at the North Northamptonshire Shadow Executive meeting in August.

The focus remains on ensuring residents continue to receive the local services they rely on.

The blueprint also sets the direction of travel for the authority and outlines the aspirations and significant future opportunities that will come from bringing the existing councils together to make our communities in Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants even better places to grow up, get on and grow old.

The detailed blueprint starts with a summary of the services from each district and borough and Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) that will make up the new Unitary Council.

For district and borough services, it is assumed that all current functions and staff for Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants councils will move to the North.

NCC services will be split across the two authorities. However, as service continuity for residents is the priority, not all county services will be split for practical, commercial and/or legal reasons for day one.

You can see the approach for each NCC service in the blueprints here http://bit.ly/NorthNorthantsShadowExec24Sept

Councillor Russell Roberts, Leader of North Northants Shadow Authority, said: “This detailed blueprint is another step towards being able to deliver vital local services when the unitary authority takes over on 1 April next year.

“Things are happening at pace as we get ready for day one, but we are also looking beyond that to find ways to build on improvements so there are even better services for everyone in our community in the future.”

The detailed blueprint will be discussed during the meeting of the North Northants Shadow Executive Committee set to take place on Thursday, 24 September.

For more information on the unitary programme in the north, visit futurenorthantsnorth.org.