Helmdon Parish Council

South Northamptonshire Council (SNC), Daventry District Council, Northampton Borough Council and (half of) Northants County Council will form a new authority serving the west of the county. It will now take charge in April 2021 rather than 2020 as originally proposed.

Cllr Ian McCord, Leader of SNC said: "I welcome the decision from Government at long last. Ministers have taken twice as long to read and decide on the proposal as they gave us to put the bid together. The election of the shadow council and a 2021 start date was something I asked MHCLG to consider a year ago, so I cannot now claim disappointment.

We will now use the time wisely to prepare the four councils for the new unitary structure in the West. Our experience with Cherwell and South Northants integration tells us that the best way to do this is by bringing everyone with you.We have been developing a plan for this scenario over the past few weeks and we will be ready. We now must seize the opportunities that a new council will present to us.

The reasons for this decision are well known and today is about looking forward and ensuring that our residents get the best possible local government available."

The announcement includes confirmation that the elections to run the new bodies will take place in May 2020, alongside the delayed Parish and Town Council elections. Those elected in 2020 will form the Shadow Authority for its final year of planning, and then move over to run the new council proper.

The announcement also paves the way for Kettering Borough Council, The Borough Council of Wellingborough, East Northants Council, Corby Borough Council and (the other half of) Northants County Council to form a new local authority serving the north of the county.

The formation of the authorities is still subject to Parliamentary approval. The Government will also be establishing a Children's Trust to take over responsibility for children's social care across the authority.

Today's announcement also confirmed that elections for the new West Northants council (and its shadow council) will be on the basis of three members per existing County Council ward, totalling 93 across the 31 Wards in the West Northants area. » Less

Our behind the scenes preparation has continued apace, and we in the West have now had the first meeting of the Joint Committee, pooling a tightly-limited amount of powers amongst SNC, Daventry, Northampton Borough and Northamptonshire County Councils, sufficient to prepare for the establishment of the West Northants Shadow Authority, the first meeting of which would be required within a couple of weeks of the completion of the Parliamentary approval process.

All this work notwithstanding, our long-held assumptions about the timing for the proposed new West Northants Council to go live – April 2020 – is now subject to rumour and speculation as to whether the Government when they make their announcement (still hoped for soon after Easter) will instead announce a longer preparation period, and a new go-live date of April 2021 – but with elections to the Shadow Authority in May 2020 (which would then automatically carry over into membership of the new council itself a year later).

Should this rumour turn into reality when we hear the announcement from the Secretary of State, then I am pleased that our existing contingency planning is already largely on top of the implications for us. This eventuality would presumably include an announcement from the Government that currently elected SNC members would see their four-year term of office extended not just to a fifth year, but actually to a sixth-year.

If this delay were realised, and these Shadow Authority elections held, we anticipate that the Parish elections could be held alongside them. If the term of office for those elected in May 2020 to the shadow authority were to run for 5 years (one year in shadow, 4 years in the authority proper) then it would perhaps mean that to remain aligned, and continue to keep down the costs of holding Parish elections, that those Parish elections would also in the first instance need to be for 5 year terms too.

We would then see the current sovereign councils continue through until 2021, with the Shadow Authority running alongside it for rather longer than the previously anticipated 6-9 months. With an extra year until abolition, SNC would therefore have to revert to preparing another year's budget, for 2020/21 – but this would be relatively straightforward (albeit no smaller a task than any other year) because for us it is 'business as usual'. We would though have to cope with various other implications associated with an extra year – such as managing down any growth in costs having separated from Cherwell and for running a cross-council LGR team alongside existing councils' management teams for an extra 12 months.

To summarise therefore, this possible year's additional delay would be complicated, and not without costs and challenges, but would overall represent a valuable opportunity to do a lot more in-depth transformation (and even wider public sector reform, working with colleagues across health, criminal justice and educational sectors) before West Northants went live in 2021, than the more limited transition work we were in most cases likely to be limited to in the time running up to the original assumed go-live date in 2020. The extra year would also give us the chance to begin to implement joint working arrangements with one or more of our neighbouring Northants councils even sooner. » Less

Those whose details have not changed since the last time they voted in an election will not need to register and will automatically receive a Polling Card.

Citizens of European Union countries (other than the UK, Republic of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus) will be sent a form they must complete and returned by Tuesday, 7 May to opt in to vote in the UK rather than their home country at these elections.

Forms are also available from the Your Vote Matters website - www.yourvotematters.co.uk. Anyone who knows they cannot get to a Polling Station on 23 May for any reason can apply to vote in advance by post or for a proxy vote where someone they trust votes on their behalf. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday, 8 May and the deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on Wednesday, 15 May. Visit - http://bit.ly/SNCWaysToVote.

A list of candidates has also been published on the council's website at - http://bit.ly/EUElection2019SNC » Less