LIVE - The first meeting of Reform-run North Northamptonshire Council
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North Northamptonshire annual council meeting
Key Events
- It's the first meeting of North Northamptonshire Council since Reform won the local elections earlier this month
- The proceedings are due to get under way at 6pm but ahead of that there will be a press call outside the Corby Cube
What does a unitary authority do?
In 2021 there was a major shakeup of local councils and North Northamptonshire unitary Council was formed.
It replaced the boroughs and the bankrupt county council and took the county from three tiers of local government to two tiers.
The unitary authority looks after all major services in the area including schools, social services, roads, bins, heritage, libraries, leisure, public transport and public health.
They also set the council tax rates and take the lion’s share to pay for services.
In 2025/26 the council will have a budget of more than £700m to pay for all its revenue (day to day spending), as well as its schools and its capital (building and major infrastructure) investments.
This new-look council has 39 Reform councillors at the helm, with 13 Conservative, 8 Green, 4 Labour, 1 independent and 1 Lib Dem.
It means Reform UK will make up the entire cabinet (the small, powerful team through which all major decisions go).
Councillors are not salaried but receive a basic allowance of £14,453 each. There are also bigger payments for the leader, who gets an extra £30,000 on top of his allowance. There’s £22,000 extra for the deputy leader and £16,000 extra for all members of the cabinet. Committee chairs get between £4,000 and £14,000 on top of their basic allowance.
A new structure will see executive advisory panels scrapped by the authority. The panels were first used by the council to ensure that there was cross-party input fed into the executive to inform major decisions.
The new system of planning, which had separate committees for the north and south areas, is also to be scrapped and one planning committee reinstated.
The meeting is about to begin.
The press have been put up in the Gods. We had requested to be in the chamber, but were not permitted. We’ve no tables up here so laptops are on knees. We’ll do our best to bring you all the action from the first meeting of NNC this political year.
Outgoing Chair Lora Lawman has opened the meeting by thanking those who have supported her charities
She mentions her German heritage, and her pride at chairing the council. She’s talking about Diwali celebrations and the success of the Chester House estate.
There are at least 5 former councillors here who lost their seats at the elections earlier this month
There are several others who stood as candidates but didn’t win
The new chair of the council will be Cllr Helen Campbell
She’s a Kingswood Councillor and will receive £10,000 extra allowance on top of her £14,000 basic councillor’s allowance.
Her role is to chair full council meetings in a politically neutral manner. She will also represent the council at civic events and will raise money for her chosen charities.
There were 56 votes for her chairwomanship, 4 against and 2 abstentions. There are 66 councillors so that first vote indicates four of them haven’t made it tonight (or they’ve not yet worked out how to use the voting system) We’ll find out who they are for you.
She tells the council she married here seven years ago and is proud to be in the post
Apologies
We have apologies from Conservative leader Cllrs Helen Harrison and Scott Brown who is going to be late and has accepted the tenner fine. Chair’s charities already in receipt of £20 and she’s only been in post for five minutes.
We know some of our readers have wanted to see pictures of their new councillors who haven't had their images published on the NNC website
Three were able to pose for a photo before the meeting. Here they are..
First up is Gordon Dunsmuir, Reform, who represents Irchester ward
Cllr Martin Griffiths (Reform, Croyland and Swanspool) is elected as leader
He says he does not take the responsibility lightly.
He adds that the work we do in communities is what councillors will be judged on and he welcomes a range of views and mentions the new layout of the room.
He says it’s not just a rearranging of the furniture. He says he wants to change how they do business and wants to see more cross party working, and more scrutiny. He wants to eliminate the combative nature of the chamber.
Cllr Griffiths announces the first ever residents' survey in North Northants
He says he is creating a happy working environment and has been impressed by the way staff have adapted to the changes.
He adds he will have an open door policy
Green leader Emily Fedorowycz is speaking
She says: “We will not support leadership or action that is dictated by Westminster
“We want this council to be run by local people and represented by us in this room.
“Actions speak louder than words but we do welcome signs that the culture is beginning to shift. “
She says ‘political gameplaying’ has taken up too much time. She says she senses a change in tone.
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