South Northamptonshire needs to ’embrace’ council reform says last chairman

South Northamptonshire Council will be replaced by the new West Northamptonshire unitary in spring.

Councillor Anthony Bagot-Webb was appointed the 47th and final chairman of the authority, with it set to be abolished alongside the county council and the other district councils in Daventry and Northampton next spring.

It will be replaced by West Northamptonshire Council, a new unitary authority which will effectively manage all the services of the existing councils under one roof.

Speaking at his investiture at the annual council meeting on September 16, Councillor Bagot-Webb said: “I will have the disappointing legacy of being the last chairman, and only serving six months before the so-called switching off of the lights on March 31. This has all been caused by the reorganisation, resulting in the abolition of our very successful district council that has served the residents of South Northamptonshire so well for the past 47 years. My term is further shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic preventing this AGM from taking place until today.

Councillor Bagot-Webb is invested as the final chairman for South Northamptonshire Council.

“However, as I have learned over many years, it is either change or stagnation and I prefer the first rather than the latter. Hence we must embrace the change and move forward with the opportunities now being played in front of us, and I must play a part in readying us for this change.”

Despite arguably being considered the smallest of the councils involved in the reorganisation, SNC is heavily represented amongst the senior staff that are helping to shape the new authority.

Its chief finance officer Martin Henry has been appointed to the same role for the new unitary, while monitoring officer Andrew Hunkin is also taking on the same role on an interim basis until the permanent appointment Catherine Whitehead can assume the role. And the council’s leader, Ian McCord, is also acting as the leader for the shadow council which is working up to launch day on April 1 next year.

South Northants chief executive Richard Ellis said: “Senior management from SNC is very well represented in the new West Northants shadow. I suppose we are somewhat caught up in our own success in that regard and so I have reassured the leader that I will keep under review our management team and the resources that we have available on the basis that clearly we are managing issues on a number of fronts – not only the COVID response, the local government reform programme and business as usual.”