North Northamptonshire Council calls for Government to commit to Conservative funding pledges on Kettering General Hospital and Lighthouse Theatre

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) is poised to ask the Government once again to deliver the funding commitments set by the last Conservative administration to create growth and improved services in the region.

Earlier this year, after the change of government, NNC leader Jason Smithers wrote to Chancellor Rachel Reeves urging her to honour previous funding pledges worth £340m. Since the letter was written, the government has said that it is minded to withdraw £5 million of cultural funding for North Northants and has also put the new hospital programme under review.

So far, Kettering General Hopsital has only secured funding for a new energy centre in the building and its full business case is still yet to be scrutinised. The rebuild remains paused while the wider programme is examined and hospital bosses have confirmed that the revitalised KGH would not be complete by the previous Government’s 2030 deadline.

A motion proposed for Thursday evening (December 5) will call on Cllr Smithers to now write to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to prioritise completing its assessment of KGH’s business case and make an urgent commitment to bringing forward the earmarked money so hospital works can be progressed swiftly.

Burton and Broughton councillor Alex Evelyn (Cons), will propose the motion and detailed the urgent need for the hospital rebuild: ” Given North Northamptonshire is expected to grow by tens of thousands over the coming years, and the elderly population with increased co-morbidities is on the rise, we need a hospital that is fit for purpose and has the capacity to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly elderly population.

“Furthermore, having state of the art facilities will reduce the time spent by patients in acute settings through a reduction in infection rates, improved patient outcomes, and swifter recovery times. All of which can reduce hospital stays, potential readmissions and drive care in the community.”

Another motion proposed by the Conservatives will focus on the missing funding for arts and culture projects in the area, including that pledged by the previous government to Kettering’s Lighthouse Theatre. It draws on a petition started by members of the public which has criticised the current government for withdrawing the levelling up funding and received almost 2,000 signatures.

According to plans submitted at the time, the cultural fund would have provided the theatre with £650,000 to invest in sound, lighting, accessibility and customer experience improvements.

Cllr Anup Pandey (Northall, Cons) wrote in the motion: “The theatre has been a beacon for community engagement, a catalyst for economic growth, and a cornerstone for regional artistic development. It attracts audiences nationwide, provides diverse programming, and enriches our local arts scene.

“The overwhelming support for the petition demonstrates the community’s recognition of the importance of sustained investment in the Lighthouse Theatre. The potential withdrawal of the provisionally allocated funding poses a significant risk to the planned improvements and threatens the long-term sustainability of this vital cultural asset.”

If it is backed by members, Leader Jason Smithers will have to publicly support the petition and sign it on behalf of the council, signalling a “collective commitment” to securing the allocated funding and protecting the Lighthouse Theatre.

A Labour Party spokesperson previously said that the projects under review are ones that were announced in the Spring Budget earlier this year by the Tories.

“No money was ever assigned to this fund by the previous Conservative government. They made promises they couldn’t keep and never set any cash aside.

“We’ve had to make some tough choices to stabilise our economy. But we will be honest with people. When we make promises, we will keep them.”