A dispute over how to split £40m from the balance sheet of now-defunct Northamptonshire County Council has been resolved.
A paper detailing how the capital financing requirement and capital adjustment account of the former authority will be divided between North Northamptonshire Council and neighbouring West Northamptonshire Council is set to be formally approved by the respective executives over the next week.
The final cash figure for the demised Northamptonshire County Council will be split broadly equally between the two authorities, with the agreement allowing both authorities to begin finalising their accounts and avoid formal arbitration and “financial distress”.
Northamptonshire County Council, which had issued a section 114 notice as its financial crisis came to light, ceased to exist on 31 March 2021 along with the district and borough councils in Northamptonshire. They were replaced on 1 April 2021 with North and West Northamptonshire, two new unitary councils.
The four-year dispute between the new councils centred around dividing the assets and liabilities of Northamptonshire County Council, which were “technically difficult to allocate”, with external auditor for West Northamptonshire Grant Thornton recently stating it was unable to sign off accounts until disaggregation had taken place.
With a resolution now agreed, Jason Smithers, leader of North Northamptonshire Council, commented: “Coming to a position of mutual agreement on the final balance sheet for the former county council was a complex task and I’m delighted that we can now move forward from this significant milestone in our unitary journey.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their hard work and determination on this and we will continue to develop our close connections with our friends in West Northamptonshire, further enhancing our collaborative working.”
Adam Brown, leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “This was no simple task and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who worked so closely and constructively to bring this to a satisfactory resolution for both councils.
“This means we can all move forward, begin to finalise our accounts and continue to build on and foster the excellent working relationships we’ve managed to develop with North Northamptonshire over the recent period.”
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