Community Governance Review - Stage 2 Consultation

Overview

Speech bubbles picture

North Northamptonshire Council is undertaking a Community Governance Review. A Community Governance Review is a process which provides an opportunity to review, create and make changes to the governance arrangements for town and parish councils and parish areas. It is a way for councils to assess whether local governance arrangements reflect local identities and interests of the community and are working as effectively and conveniently as they should.

We have the power to undertake such reviews under Part 4 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and the relevant national guidance document.

What the Community Governance Review can and cannot change?

The review may consider the following:

  • Creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes
  • The electoral arrangements for parishes, including the ordinary year of elections; council size; the number of councillors to be elected; and parish warding
  • The naming and style of new parishes
  • Grouping or ungrouping of parishes
  • Other type of arrangements, including parish meetings

The review cannot:

  • Change the number of councillors on North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) or North Northamptonshire area ward boundaries
  • Influence or change the amount of money that an existing town or parish council raise through council tax (known as precept) or change individual parish councillors

What will the review consider?

When reviewing community governance arrangements, we are required to consider:

  • The impact on community cohesion of community governance arrangements; and
  • Size, population and boundaries of a local community or parish

We are also required to ensure that community governance will be:

  • Reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area; 
  • Effective and convenient; and
  • That any other forms of community representation (eg neighbourhood or residents associations) have also been considered.

Stage 1 Consultation - What you have already told us

From 12 December 2025 to 12 March 2026, we asked for the views of the public, town and parish councils, and any interested parties on whether they feel their communities are suitably represented and whether they would like to see any changes to their current governance arrangements.

We received 121 responses from various respondents including residents, parish/town councillors, parish clerks. 

The proposals recieved have been taken into consideration in formulating draft recommendations. The draft recommendations were considered by the Democracy and Standards Committee on 20 July 2026.

View the full Submissions (Minor/ No Change) and Submissions (Major)

View the Draft Recommendation Document and Draft Recommendation Maps. 

Stage 2 Consultation – Draft Recommendations

We are now seeking views of the public, town and parish councils, and any interested parties on the draft recommendations.

Have your say

You can have your say by completing the surveys using the links below. If you wish to comment on more than one recommendation please revisit this page at the end of your submission (there will be an opportunity at the end of the survey to return to this page).

If you would like to submit a document or file to support your submission please email it to elections@northnorthants.gov.uk, quoting your response ID number that you will be allocated at the end of your submission.

While every effort has been made to ensure that documents are accessible and compliant with relevant accessibility standards, some content, formatting, or attached materials may not be fully accessible to all users. If you experience difficulties accessing any documents please contact us via elections@northnorthants.gov.uk so that we can provide the information in an alternative format or arrange an appointment as appropriate.

Alternatively, you can email elections@northnorthants.gov.uk or write to us at:

Head of Electoral Services
North Northamptonshire Council
Municipal Offices
Bowling Green Road
Kettering
NN15 7QX

For further information and to view the Terms of Reference please visit the Community Governance Review webpage.

This consultation closes at 23.59 on 4 October 2026.

For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice and the community governance review privacy notice.

Next Steps

Responses received will inform the preparation of final recommendations and outcomes of the review. The remaining stages and indicative dates are shown below.

Stage of Review Indicative Date
Consideration of submissions & final recommendations published October to November 2026
Decision of Committee – Agreement on final recommendations December 2026
Council resolves to make a Reorganisation Order December 2026
Reorganisation Order made December 2026
For further information view the Democracy and Standards Committee Report.

Closes 4 Oct 2026

Opened 24 Jul 2026

Interests

  • Consultations
  • Councillors and democracy