North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) will spend £1.5m on highway maintenance and improvements after it underspent in its first year of operations.

The new unitary authority took over in April 2021 and its Executive released financial figures for its first full year last week.

NNC underspent on its General Funds budget by over £1.7m according to a financial report from a meeting of the council’s Executive last Thursday, July 14. NNC announced that £1.5m of this will be used on highway improvements the following day, Friday July 15.

The council was formed after an investigation commissioned by the government said Northamptonshire County Council was being financially mismanaged. It absorbed the roles of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough district councils and began operations on April 1 2021, reports Northants Live.

When it was formed, NNC was given an annual budget of £292.5m for 2021/22, for use in education, support services, and other general operations. Council papers show the council underspent on this by £1.771m in its first year.

The Executive announced this money will be put into a reserve specifically to enable repairs across North Northamptonshire including:

• Potholes
• White line painting
• Clearance of overgrown vegetation; and
• Sign cleaning and more.