Juggling financial constraints with service delivery is a game often played by organisations in both the private and public sector. The significance for a council is that by not delivering on its statutory services, it is both open to legal challenge and undermining its citizens’ rights.

In the wake of KPMG’s recommendations, there was little surprise that Northamptonshire county council (Northamptonshire) voted in favour of its revised 2018/19 budget, reducing the local authority’s reliance on capital receipts by over £9million to ensure it is not operating unlawfully. However, this has come at the cost of key services – and within the package of £40m savings across its spending portfolio, the council cut provisions for both adult services and children, families and education services by a combined total of £4.7m.