Like many of you, I have been following events around Northamptonshire County Council’s current financial situation closely in recent weeks and months. I have been very clear that my priority is to protect services to my constituents, particularly with a consultation having been carried out around the future of the county’s library service.

I know many of you were shocked to discover that, having passed a budget for the 2018/19 financial year – including a wide range of cuts to services – an announcement was made that, with the exception of Hunsbury and Towcester, all South Northamptonshire libraries would be operating one day a week with immediate effect.

You can read here a copy of the letter I sent to Damon Lawrensen, Interim Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Council, on Friday to outline these concerns and seek an explanation.

I understand that the libraries have now been given exceptional permission by the Finance Director at NCC to recruit some temporary staff where necessary to enable libraries to remain open in the short term, and in the meantime we will await the findings of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government Inspector on March 16th.

Please be assured that I am committed to protecting the services to my constituents in South Northamptonshire, while at the same time ensuring that Northamptonshire gets back onto a sustainable financial situation.