Coronavirus to cost South Northamptonshire Council between £2m and £4.5m

The pandemic has caused financial hardship for all local authorities across the country due to a loss of income while continuing to run services.

Now SNC is the latest within the county to make public its estimations of the financial costs. Northampton Borough Council estimates it could be between £2 million and £3 million out of pocket, while Northamptonshire County Council faces a whopping bill of between £14 million and £27 million.

Among the costs hitting SNC are reduced fees and charges within planning, licensing, rental income and land charges; reduced investment returns; lower business rates growth; and increased costs in refuse and recycling and leisure centre costs.

Discussing the impact during a virtual cabinet meeting last night (June 8), the council’s chief executive Richard Ellis said: “We’re now moving from the response phase into the recovery phase. We’re looking at how we can slowly but surely – while paying due attention to the Government guidelines – get back to some sort of normality. We’ll work closely with other agencies such as the county council and the local resilience forum.”

The authority ran three potential outcomes through its finance modelling. It found that in an ‘optimistic’ scenario the council would have to foot a £2 million bill, while a ‘realistic’ scenario saw a financial impact of £3 million. Meanwhile, a ‘pessimistic’ outcome could see the council have to fill a £4.5 million gap.

Last year’s accounts for 2019-20 are set to show an underspend of approximately £500,000, and it is being recommended that this is moved to a ‘risk reserve’ to deal with some of the emerging pressures as a result of COVID-19.

The report into the virus’ impact states: “It is recommended that officers look at other in-year measures for members to consider to seek to reduce spend across the council in order to assist in dealing with the financial impact highlighted. This will also assist the new unitary authority when formed.”