Corby Council still quiet on its finances

Five months into the Covid-19 pandemic and Corby Council has not given a public account of how the crisis has hit its finances.

The local authority – which has only held two public meetings since March – will hold its special full council on Wednesday (July 22) however chief executive Norman Stronach will only give a verbal report on the Covid-19 crisis.

Leader Tom Beattie will also give a verbal update on the local government reorganisation which will see the Labour-run authority disbanded in April next year and form a new council with neighbouring councils in Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants.

The only written report on the agenda is about changing the current rules so that councillors are not being removed from the authority if they have not attended a meeting within six months.

Councillors have still been receiving their £4,566 annual members allowance during the pandemic, despite the lack of meeting duties.

When local government secretary Robert Jenrick gave councils new powers in April to hold virtual meetings he stressed the importance of transparency in local decision making – however Corby Council was slow to hold its meetings online, with the first one on June 23.

Since stopping meetings on March 11 it has only held two planning meetings and besides planning its other committees such as scrutiny, One Corby, and audit appear to have all been suspended.

The leader of the Conservative opposition Cllr Kevin Watt says the authority must now get its local decision making committees back into the public forum.

He said: “I think that as we have the virtual capability we should be holding our regular committee meetings by now. We should be doing it.”

Asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service why there have been so few meetings at Corby in relation to its neighbours leader Tom Beattie said: “Corby Council has only been calling meetings when there has been a business need to do so.”

He said there are no plans to reconvene the council’s scrutiny function, that planning would continue on its monthly cycle, a One Corby meeting will be on August 11 and an audit meeting will be planned in the next few weeks. He said the postponed annual council meeting from May could happen in September.

Chief executive Norman Stronach said a financial report would go to the One Corby committee next month and that the reason the report on Wednesday would be verbal rather thna written was because: “Government guidance on responding to the Covid-19 emergency changes on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Corby Council will be giving a verbal update to report and reflect on the most up to date information possible, which we as a council constantly have to review.”

In contrast to Corby’s local authority, East Northamptonshire Council has returned to a full meetings calendar. It has held ten meetings already this month with three to be held online this week.

It has also regularly updated on its finances, keeping the public and councillors abreast of the effects of Covid-19 on the public purse.

It is understood Corby councillors have received a private briefing note which has said the authority could be looking at a coronavirus impact in the region of £5m.

The loss of the income from its international pool and leisure facilities will have had a big impact.

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