Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: July 16, 2025

Purpose:

Content: RESOLVED: Cabinet;   a)    Noted the information contained at Appendix A that reflects requests from Reform UK but is information that is already in the public domain and accessible to all interested parties. b)    Subjected to the satisfactory completion of all due diligence checks considered necessary by the Chief Executive Officer and completion of the relevant legal agreements referred to in recommendation C, approve the sharing of information detailed within Appendix Two; c)     Delegated Authority to the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer to undertake all necessary due diligence checks of third parties and to negotiate and enter into the appropriate legal agreements with the third parties prior to the sharing of any data detailed in Appendix Two to ensure that the Council’s information and data security is protected and the Council is indemnified against any potential loss or damage; and d)    Delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer in consultation with the Executive Director of Resources and the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer to agree any further sharing of data subject to the parameters and constraints set out within this report.   REASONS RESOLVED:   1.     The Council is a best value authority and has a duty under Section 3 (1) of the Local Government Act 1999 to “make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.” By law the Council is required to set a balanced budget year on year. 2.     The sharing of data may help the council to identify efficiencies which would enable potential future savings in the furtherance of this statutory requirement, ensuring that the Council is able to continue delivering services above the minimum statutory requirements for the residents of West Northamptonshire. 3.     The Council is already in the process of commencing its detailed financial work required for setting the budget for 2026-27 and will be seeking significant efficiencies from service directors, managers and budget holders to reduce the budget deficit for 2026-27. The approach taken for 2026-27 will not be fundamentally different from previous years where to date almost £115m of efficiency savings have been driven out of the base budget in order to protect service levels and produce a balanced budget. 4.     But we recognise that as a Council which is already lean and has many services which benchmark as low spenders, finding new savings is getting harder. Therefore, the Council is right to consider other resources and tools available to see if there are further savings that can be identified in order to close the gap and protect services. Not finding new ways to improve productivity and efficiency creates a greater risk that the Council would have to move to a minimum level of service provision in the future.   ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:   The Council does not have to share any data with any third party and could choose not to. However, the Council does have a duty to meet its best value obligations and does face a challenging financial landscape that increasingly requires new thinking, new ideas and different skills in order to keep finding efficiencies when the Council is already operating at a low cost in most areas (according to benchmarks) and in the face of the growth of the demand led services. The opportunity to share limited data in a protected and controlled way may assist the Council is meeting that duty whilst also supporting the Council to drive forward its Transformation Programme and support the setting of a balanced budget at no additional cost to the Council.