Council tax rise rubber-stamped as NNC approves Reform budget

Council tax bills for everyone in North Northamptonshire will go up from April, as the maximum increase has been approved by the unitary authority.

North Northants Council (NNC) will be increasing its share of the council tax bill by 4.99 per cent in 2026/27. This includes a 2.99 per cent increase in the basic council tax precept and a two per cent increase for the adult social care precept.

This will see the average council tax bill for a band D property rise to £1,918.23, which is an annual increase of £91.17. People’s council tax bill will also include other contributions to parish and town councils and a precept to the police and fire services, which are set separately.

Proposing the budget to the chamber, Cllr Graham Cheatley, cabinet member for finance, said: “Even with the pressures we face, this budget still puts money into the services that matter most for our residents.

“This budget is not simply a collection of numbers, it is a statement of our priorities, our responsibilities and our commitment to the people we serve. It balances today’s pressures with tomorrow’s opportunities, it protects vital front-line services while driving transformation.

“It does so responsibly, sustainably, and transparently.”

The £432.5m budget was approved at a full council meeting at the Corby Cube on Thursday, February 19. NNC says this will help fund £47m of further investment to protect vital services and fund improvements, as well as allowing for increased demand and higher costs in providing statutory services such as adult and children’s social care

In-year savings and income generation of £20m are also included in the 2026/27 budget plans to offset cost pressures and service investments.

Leader of the opposition, Cllr Helen Harrison (Conservative), criticised the Reform UK administration for ‘breaking election promises’ and proposing a maximum 4.99 per cent council tax increase.

She said: “Here, in Martin Griffith’s election address, it says ‘we fight for lower council tax’. If this is you guys fighting, I’d hate to see what surrender looks like.

“[Reform] are going to tell you that they have no choice, that it has been mandated by government. This is completely untrue – you only have to look around the country to see that many councils are raising council tax by less than 4.99 per cent.

“They made all these promises in the election. So, did they go out there and lie to the public knowing they were not going to be able to deliver on those promises, or did they have absolutely no idea what they were talking about when they were slating us for the way we ran the council?”

Opposition parties propose changes to the budget

The Conservative group proposed a budget amendment which would change the proposed council tax increase for residents to 3.9 per cent, down from the full 4.99 per cent increase put forward by Reform UK.

They said this would be funded through taking money out of the £2.4m contingency, which was added after the draft budget as a result of improvements to the local government finance settlement. This would have reduced the contingency budget for 2026/27 to £25,000.

However, finance lead Cllr Cheatley said the difference between 4.99 per cent and 3.9 per cent council tax increase was £20 a year for families, but would blow a £2.3m hole in the council’s budget every single year if it was applied.

He added: “It is a choice between financial responsibility and long-term damage, between protecting services and weakening them. For the sake of our residents, our workforce and the financial health of this council, this amendment must be rejected.”

Cllr Kirk Harrison, executive member for regulatory services, also said that he’d like it to be put on record that Reform UK believes in low council tax, but that it “relies on local government being funded responsibly and properly by central government”. He said this did not happen and that there was an assumption built into the funding formula that a 4.99 per cent increase would be applied.

The Labour group also proposed an amendment suggesting that £220,000 is taken out of the £2.4m contingency budget to fund three programmes in Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough.

This included £10k to investigate alternative parking provisions for the Corby Old Village, £200k for a feasibility study into a new Kettering swimming pool, and a £10k feasibility study into finding a new venue for Wellingborough Amateur Boxing Club.

The administration said they would consider the projects set out in Labour’s amendments, but that they could not support it in the budget. Both amendments went to the vote, but ultimately fell.

‘This budget will enable us to protect those services’

Responding to the debate, council leader Martin Griffiths said: “There is nothing worse than making cuts to services, closing libraries and care homes, and frankly anybody that sat on the previous Northamptonshire County Council needs to cast their mind back to those bad days.

“They will not be repeated here in North Northamptonshire Council. This budget will enable us to protect those services that we know are so important to the people of North Northamptonshire.

“This is not about personality, this is about delivering our corporate plan, your corporate plan that every single one of you approved.

“In government, Reform will cut tax – that is a pledge, that is a promise and in government we will do it. In the meantime, we will carry on here in North Northamptonshire, delivering our corporate plan, putting our residents first in every single thing we do.”

The 2026/27 budget, including the 4.99 per cent council tax increase were voted on by the council and received 44 members in favour, 11 against and three abstentions.

A 4.8 per cent rise in rent increases for social housing tenants was also approved by NNC in its Housing Revenue Account.