Northamptonshire under investigation over £10m ‘claw-back’

Northamptonshire County Council is being investigated over allegations it used millions of pounds ring-fenced for public health to prop up other services.

The authority, which voted for almost £40 million in budget cuts, is in talks with Public Health England about the possible ‘claw-back’ of up to £10 million.

The county council received more than £70 million in funding from Public Health England over a two-year period for spending on health education and smoking cessation services. However, council leader Heather Smith said the money ‘may have been spent in adult social care’, even though ‘it is debatable whether that was a public health need or not’.

Opposition councillors have claimed they were not given specifics regarding ‘the allegations of misspending’, but were told the amount involved may be ‘significantly more’ than the original figure of £10 million reported.

The council has welcomed a recent report by the National Audit Office which highlighted the unprecedented funding challenge facing local authorities across the country, saying that it ‘is significant for Northamptonshire because it endorses what we have long been saying about the growing financial challenge facing us and many other county councils’.