Cabinet seeks to explore potential opportunities to identify further efficiencies

17 July 2025

West Northamptonshire Council’s Cabinet has approved a mechanism to review information sharing arrangements that could lead to potential future opportunities for identifying savings and efficiencies at the authority.

The approval of the legal framework, at last night’s Cabinet meeting, comes in light of the council being recently approached by Reform UK’s DOGE Team, which has offered its support and expertise in working with the authority to find additional ways to tackle the ever–tightening financial environment it operates in.  

No data has been shared so far, and the report establishes the framework under which information may possibly be shared in the future including strict legal protections and confidentiality safeguards. Personal data held by the Council about residents, individual cases, or services are excluded from the information that may be shared.

Any insights gained will remain the council’s property and won’t be used for any political purposes. If new savings are identified, they will be brought forward through the usual budget setting process, after validation from the Chief Financial Officer, and reported to Cabinet meetings.

“The proposed arrangements approved by Cabinet ensure that the Council is fully complying with the law when sharing data with the DOGE team. I am confident the team will be able to support the Council in identifying further efficiencies and potential future savings whilst continuing to protect and deliver services for residents across West Northamptonshire.

“Chief officers are already focusing on exploring further efficiencies and savings as part of the usual annual budget-setting process for the financial year 2026-27 and DOGE presents a unique opportunity to support this work.”Cllr Mark Arnull, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council

This comes at a time when councils across the country are facing tough financial decisions, and WNC is no exception. Since its creation in 2021, the Council has already saved around £115 million by working more efficiently. But rising costs and increasing demand for services mean next year’s budget is likely to be the toughest yet.

The Council is already subject to regular and rigorous financial checks, with extensive inspections and audits carried out every year under national legislation and frameworks.  

“There’s no better time than now for this work. We have already started budget planning for next year and bringing in independent expertise can only strengthen our process. All legal protocols and confidentiality requirements are clear and robust. This is simply about giving ourselves every possible tool to protect essential services and keep delivering for local people, even in tough times.”Anna Earnshaw, Chief Executive of West Northamptonshire Council