Northampton Council criticised over management of £10.25m loan

Financial auditors KPMG has criticised Northampton Council’s handling of a £10.25 million stadium redevelopment loan given to Northampton Town Football Club.

The Council loaned the funding to former owners of the club but failed to ensure the proposed work was fully completed, with Northamptonshire Police currently investigating ‘alleged financial irregularities’ surrounding the loan.

According to KPMG’s report: “Auditors were unable to state that Northampton Borough Council had proper arrangements to ensure it took properly informed decisions and deployed resources to achieve planned and sustainable outcomes for taxpayers and local people.”

Commenting on the report’s findings, council leader Mary Markham, argued: “I acknowledge this is a very serious issue, but it is the exception.

“We are using all the means we can to try to recover the £10.25 million owed to the council, but this must be balanced against the £450 million of transactions that the borough council handles efficiently every year. We also manage assets worth £725 million.”