'Embarrassing' Reform council U-turns on cross-party cost-saving panel plan looking at carbon management

In September 2025, place and environment scrutiny committee members had agreed to proceed with a cross-party carbon management task and finish group, to accelerate cost and carbon savings across North Northamptonshire Council (NNC).

Six members had eventually put themselves forward to sit on the panel from two original volunteers – best practice states the panels should have members from every political group including the council’s leading political group – Reform – that did not find a councillor to sit on the panel.

At the meeting on Tuesday (August 25), Reform councillors voted against continuing with the cross-party working group citing limits for only four ‘task and finish groups’ that look into different areas of the council’s remit.

Cllr Emily Fedorowycz (Green) said: “Our council is facing a £14.9m deficit. We should be using every opportunity we have to find savings and this working group was one of those opportunities.

"It was a chance for councillors from all parties to work together to find practical savings, but that work has now been abandoned. It’s a real shame that this council has failed to deliver what had already been agreed.

“At a time when residents are being told there isn’t enough money to keep our streets clean, repair potholes or protect community funding, local people are being asked to accept difficult decisions because of this council’s financial challenges, yet it is extraordinary that an opportunity to help deliver savings was voted down.”

The decision comes at a critical time for the council, which is facing a £14.9m in-year budget deficit and is under significant pressure to identify and deliver savings.

Opposition councillors say the proposed working group would have provided additional support and recommendations to help overcome barriers, accelerate key actions and deliver significant savings within the financial year.

In 2022, the newly elected Reform executive pushed back NNC’s goal to become carbon neutral by 20 years – the new deadline is now 2050.

Officers have already identified opportunities where carbon management measures may reduce costs. LED lighting upgrades have already saved more than £17,000 in a single council building, while solar installations on high-energy buildings are projected to save hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Other changes include the installation of heat pumps, motion-activated lighting in buildings and the planting of 10,000 trees across the area in 2025/26.

At the latest meeting, councillors were asked to vote a second time on the establishment of the working group.

Councillors from the Labour, Green, Conservative and Independent groups all voted to continue with the working group. Reform councillors voted unanimously against.

Councillors argued that accelerating these projects could help reduce future energy costs and ease pressure on council budgets at a time when services and community funding are under strain

Cllr Kelly Duddridge (Labour) said: “I was really disappointed when I read the report. We seem to keep missing so many opportunities. Backbenchers could be getting involved with things like this and we could get some fresh eyes on really important pieces of work, and right now saving money is key and this was another key route to do that.

“It’s not just also about saving money though, it’s about improving where we live, making things work more efficiently - I don’t understand why anyone would not want to give that some serious focus. Reform say they want to find cost savings but their actions do not seem to match their words.”

Opposition councillors expressed confusion and disappointment that the same decision had effectively been brought back for another vote.

Voting ended in a tie with committee chairman Cllr Chris Munday voting with Reform colleagues against the proposed panel.

He was then advised by officer he had the casting vote as chairman – he voted no.

David Howes (Conservative) said: “Plain and simple, Reform are not prepared to save money. This was an opportunity to take some weight off officers, a chance to accelerate savings and that has now been lost.

"We’ve also lost transparency and public accountability on these savings. Now some actions will progress and some will not, and the people have no visibility on this.”

Scott Brown (Ind) said: “We’ve got an area of work here that has already demonstrated it can save the council money, and given the precarious financial position we are in, I was quite aghast that we were even asked to consider not going ahead.

"We should be prioritising areas where we can identify bigger savings and accelerate them, and the panel was a perfect opportunity to do that. It’s a no-brainer.

“The reality is Reform couldn’t find the people to sit on the panel and so they’ve had to cut it. It’s embarrassing.”

NNC’s Reform group spokesman said: “The discussion at place and environment scrutiny wasn't about whether the carbon management plan should be scrutinised or whether the council should pursue cost-saving measures. There is broad agreement on both.

"The question was whether scrutiny required a separate task and finish group or whether it could continue through the main committee.

“The committee concluded that the place and environment scrutiny committee was the appropriate forum. Members also agreed to strengthen that scrutiny by requesting additional information in future reports, including further financial and carbon-saving data.

“Task and finish groups are a valuable scrutiny tool, but they are also a limited resource. The council already has several significant task and finish groups under way and members ultimately concluded that a separate group wasn't necessary in this case.

"It was decided that the carbon management plan could continue to be scrutinised effectively in public committee.

“In relation to membership, the published report simply records that there were insufficient members to establish the task and finish group. It does not attribute that to any particular political group, so it wouldn't be appropriate to speculate beyond what is contained in the report.”

To watch the whole meeting click here for North Northants Council’s YouTube channel.