Background
Every year West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) must agree a budget which balances the money we spend on services, with the money we have.
We provide a wide range of services to West Northamptonshire’s 430,000 residents, spending more than £1.3billion annually.
We are responsible for many of the services that affect people’s daily lives across the whole of West Northants. These include things like social care for children and adults, schools, waste disposal, public health, libraries and roads.
We have been through an extraordinary period in the last few years with the Covid-19 pandemic followed by the significant economic turbulence arising from international and national circumstances.
In recent years, spending pressures have led to overspends on children’s services and residential and nursing care for older people, and these services are continuing to face increasing demand and higher costs.
We need to manage this within the funding available, which mainly comes from Council Tax and Government grants.
Since 2021, we have had to find £146million in savings and income generation in order to manage spending within the funding available to us.
Over the next year, the cost of delivering our services is expected to rise by around £64million.
If we increase Council Tax by the maximum amount we currently expect the Government to allow, this would still leave a balance of £47million to close through either service efficiencies or additional funding.
This means we would still need to make difficult decisions about how we manage spending.
More information is available in our budget proposals documents, which we recommend you read before taking part in the consultation.
Read our draft budget proposals
The Council has published its draft budget proposals for 2026 to 2027, which will be discussed by its Cabinet on Monday 22 December.
How we are funded
The Council’s general fund budget is funded through 4 main sources of income.
What we spend our budget on
Find out how our budget spend is split between the various services we provide.
Key dates and deadlines
- Friday 12 December 2025: Budget proposals published
- Monday 22 December 2025: Council meeting to discuss Budget
- Tuesday 23 December 2025: Public consultation opens
- Tuesday 13 January 2026: 'Your Money, Your Say' event
- Tuesday 3 February 2026: Public consultation closes
- Monday 9 February 2026: Consultation report published with Cabinet papers
- Monday 16 February 2026: Cabinet considers final budget proposals
- Thursday 26 February 2026: Full Council sets the final budget
How to have your say
The public draft budget consultation will open on 23 December 2025.
Your responses will be considered by Councillors at Cabinet and Council meetings, before the budget proposals are finalised and considered for approval at Full Council made up of all your elected representatives in February 2026.