19 October 2023

This week is Household Support Fund Awareness Week (16 to 22 October 2023) with the aim to highlight financial support available to households who may be facing hardship in West Northants.

In the fourth tranche of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Household Support Fund, £5,199,257 has been allocated to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to continue helping the most vulnerable with the ongoing cost of living challenges.

WNC have implemented a number of support offers that have been identified to best meet the need of residents in West Northamptonshire, ensuring the funds are distributed to a range of families and households in need, with differing circumstances. The support offers distributed include:

• Around 12,500 families with children continuing to receive meal vouchers during the school holidays. They have also be given a helping hand for the 23/24 school year, with supermarket vouchers for uniforms distributed alongside support for food over the summer.
• Voluntary and community groups will share out £1.2m in the form of food aid, distributed in separate tranches over winter, to support households experiencing the most hardship across West Northants.
• Over 1,500 households on a low wage (weekly income of less than £400) but have not received any of the Cost of Living Payments or the £150 Disability Cost of Living payments may be eligible to receive a £300 payment to provide financial support. For more information see Household Support Fund.
• £600,000 has been allocated towards food clubs and larders, with half of the funding to help upscale and improve their use of food clubs and larders in a move towards more sustainable ongoing support for residents
• Around £115,000 has been earmarked towards helping the most struggling households reduce their energy bills through practical measures such as better insulation and more efficient boilers etc. A further £110,000 will be used to provide money and debt advice services to those facing severe financial hardship.

The impact of the cost-of-living increase is still very much affecting many households and we are continuing to work with our local voluntary and community groups in helping to address this ongoing challenge.

It is imperative that we offer support to residents, acknowledging that individual circumstances and the help needed differs. Therefore, we have thoughtfully considered how to make the best use of the latest funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Cllr Matt Golby, WNC’s Cabinet member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

For more information on cost of living support please visit Cost of living or call 0300 126 7000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).

19 October 2023

A Northampton landlord has been prosecuted for operating eight unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) as well as a range of breaches of the HMO Management Regulations 2006.

The case follows an inspection of the properties in Hinton Road, Obelisk Rise, Culworth Crescent, Kingsthorpe Avenue, Aynho Crescent and Chalcombe Avenue by West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) Housing Enforcement Team in late 2019 and early 2022.

During this time officers found a significant number of failings in the HMOs regarding fire safety, cleanliness and maintenance, and effective arrangements for the disposal of waste.

The landlord, Faiz Hammed, of Moulton Grange, admitted charges against four of the properties, and was found guilty of charges relating to the other four during a trial at Northampton Magistrates Court on 10 October.

At the hearing last week, the District Judge described Mr Hammed as being the ‘controlling mind of the operation’, which also included his brother Ahmed Saeed.

Mr Saeed, of Dixon Road, Northampton, pleaded guilty to his involvement with one of the properties, and Ms Victoria Cebotari, of Icknield Drive Northampton, pleaded guilty to her involvement in two of the properties.

The District Judge who heard the case deferred sentencing to 1 March 2024.

Mr Waheed Ahmed, a further relation to Mr Hammed, pleaded guilty to his involvement with one of the properties and has been sentenced previously.

Residents’ health and safety was put at serious risk because of this landlord who defied the laws which are there to protect people and keep them safe.

I am pleased the courts have recognised the seriousness of these offences and hope that the sentencing will act as an example to deter other rogue landlords and persuade them to comply with the law in future.

I would urge anyone with concerns about a HMO to report it via our website so that we can carry out an investigation and make renting safer for residents in West Northamptonshire.

Councillor Adam Brown, Deputy Leader of WNC and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure

18 October 2023

Throughout October and November, a final consultation will be launched on the proposed new way of delivering short breaks in Northamptonshire.

Short Breaks are breaks for children and young people who have a disability giving them rich opportunities while also allowing carers to have a break from caring to carry out other vital activities.  They include daytime activities, overnight residential breaks, personal care and support, holiday clubs, sensory impairment services and sleep support. 

The short breaks service is jointly funded by North and West Northamptonshire Council’s and the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board. Northamptonshire Children’s Trust oversee the ‘Short Breaks Service’ which is provided on a county wide basis to children with disabilities as part of our shared responsibility to support children with SEND under the Children and Families Act 2014. 

We know how important these services are to disabled children and their families which is why it is critical that we collaboratively consider any potential changes to services.

It is imperative that we gain as much feedback as possible during this final phase of consultation to ensure that the future services are fit for purpose and deliver the best possible outcomes for children and families.

Julian Wooster, Chair of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust

It is so important to get feedback on this potential new model. By looking at doing things differently this may mean the current services need to change as we look to improve support for families and at the same time make better use of resources.

We would encourage as many families as possible to take part in this consultation so we can continue to work together to come to the best possible model for these services.

Toby Sanders, Chief Executive of Northamptonshire ICB

The first phase of a three-stage consultation began in 2021 to understand what was working well and what improvements needed to be made to the service as identified by parents, practitioners, and organisations. This feedback informed and helped to develop a potential new model for the service in future.

The second phase in April - May 2023 was about engagement, to gain feedback from  parents, carers, practitioners, and other members of the public on how they felt about the potential model and the service offering in the future.

The third and final part of the consultation process is now commencing, and this involves a wider public dialogue on the proposed new model. Consultation will take place via an electronic survey, provider events, parent and practitioner workshops and attendance at community events to ensure a wide range of feedback on the proposed model is received before writing the specification and tendering the new contract in November.

The proposed model aims to:

• bring together residential and non-residential short breaks, for better co-ordination and flexibility
• have a single referral and assessment pathway to make it easier to access services and better oversight
• build community links and support for children to access activities in the community with buddy support and support so children with more complex needs can access daytime activities

The final phase of consultation is now live, and residents are encouraged to give their feedback via the survey which can be found on the North Northamptonshire Council Website

13 October 2023

West Northamptonshire’s fleet of gritters will be deployed this week to prepare the roads for winter, with the Met Office forecasting a cold snap is on its way.

With a sharp decline in temperature across Northamptonshire expected towards the end of October, precautionary gritting routes are now underway. West Northamptonshire Council’s highways provider, Kier is set to grit over 1,100 miles of the road network - the equivalent of driving from here to Venice.

West Northamptonshire has a stockpile of over 5,500 tonnes of salt ready to use on public roads and foot paths over the winter months. More than 880 grit bins have also been filled.

Met Office reports have shown that due to an El Niño weather pattern, a term for when the sea surface temperature warms every few years, the UK is headed for greater snowfall this winter – with the first of the UK’s snowfall predicted for this week.

By working together with Kier, we have taken all necessary precautions to ensure that our roads are kept safe for our communities as we enter the winter months – and prepare for the cold snap ahead. Our 12-strong fleet of gritters are set to head out on the network from this weekend when required.

As the cold weather approaches, this can cause a major impact on our roads and an increase in road defects and potholes. We will continue to work with Kier to ensure these are resolved as quickly as possible, and advise all residents to report any road defects via our website with location details and photos so we can resolve this.

Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste at West Northamptonshire Council

The council is targeted in its approach – and has designed routes based on high-quality weather forecasting and real-time temperature readings, through weather stations and sensors along West Northamptonshire’s roads.

Through route-based forecasting, roads will be treated if the temperatures are forecasted to drop below 0.5C.

The fleet of gritters will also all have names this year, thanks to the creative thinking of local schoolchildren, meaning trucks named Pretty Gritty, RoadZipper and Gritzilla will be among those helping to keep our roads safe this winter.

We are proactively planning for the predicted weather conditions this winter. Our crews are on standby 24/7 during the winter months, as we work to keep road conditions safe and quickly respond to any changing weather conditions. We will be mobilising our gritting fleet, which have all been named by local primary school pupils, in trial routes this weekend.

We urge road users to be vigilant – as even once a road has received a gritting treatment, the salt requires activation from the movement of vehicles and drivers should take extra care. We also actively encourage feedback from the community to help us to continue to deliver a resilient and reliable service.

John Coombes, general manager at Kier Transportation

As stocks run low, people can also report bins that need refilling.

To find out more about the precautionary and adverse gritting routes and other useful winter service information.

People can keep up to date with highways and travel news for West Northamptonshire Council highways on Twitter and Facebook via @WNHighways.

13 October 2023

The first inspection of the Youth Offending Service (YOS) since the inception of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust (NCT) and the establishment of the two unitary councils, North Northamptonshire (NNC) and West Northamptonshire (WNC) has found that the service is ‘good’.  The quality of resettlement policy and provision was also inspected, which was separately rated as ‘Outstanding’.

Inspectors found that ‘delivery of work with children was of a consistently high standard’ which in turn meant that there are ‘positive working relationships with the children’ and they ‘positively engaged with the YOS and could access appropriate services to support them.’

Children and young people were approached for comments as part of the inspection, and they said:

“My YOS worker is absolutely amazing. They have helped me through a lot, and I can’t thank them enough. Ever since they came into my life a lot of things have changed for the better.”

“My YOS worker not only taught me why what I was doing was wrong but also treated me with respect and supported me mentally as well, and is helping me to understand my emotions better and how to deal with things that have happened in my past,

Northamptonshire YOS sits within NCT who ‘provides clear direction for the service’ and works in partnership with North and West Northamptonshire Councils and partners such as health, police, education, community safety partnership, and other key stakeholders who all sit on the YOS Board.

The Board are committed to deliver the best outcomes for children, young people, and the community. In the report, inspectors ‘found an effective partnership’ and ‘Board members who take an active role in developing the work of the YOS’ they also saw ‘some excellent examples of board members advocating for the work of the YOS in their own organisations, with a clear focus upon improving outcomes for YOS children.’

We are extremely pleased that the fantastic work of our Youth Offending Service has been recognised in this inspection. We have an incredible team that work collaboratively with our partners to support young people, giving them every chance to succeed.

The positive results from our children’s survey are a testament to the quality of working relationships on which the service is built.

We welcome the recommendations that are in the report and will look at how to implement these so we can improve the service even further.

Julian Wooster, Chair of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust

We’re delighted that the Youth Offending Service has been rated ‘good’. Staff work extremely hard to achieve the best possible outcomes for the children they work with, and it’s wonderful to see their efforts recognised in this way.

The children supported by the service often have complex needs, and partners collaborate closely to provide a wide range of both mainstream and specialist services to address these in order to intervene early and successfully help these young people turn their lives around.

The team are always looking for ways to improve the support they provide, and they are now considering how they can implement the recommendations in the report to help achieve even better outcomes for the young people they work with. I’m sure that continual drive to improve will be reflected in future inspections.

Cllr Scott Edwards, North Northamptonshire's Executive member for Children, Families, Education and Skills

I am so pleased that the youth offending service has been rated ‘good’. It recognises the hard work of dedicated staff who go above and beyond to ensure the best outcomes for the children they serve.

The team remains ever committed to delivering better outcomes for the young people they work with and are now looking at how they can put in place the report’s recommendations.

 I would like to thank all of the staff involved and I am certain their commitment to achieving the best outcomes will be reflected in future inspections.

Cllr Fiona Baker, West Northamptonshire's Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education

Northamptonshire Youth Offending Service offers children under their supervision every chance to succeed.

We were impressed with their approach to providing services for each child to access specialist support services, such as for substance misuse, speech, language, and communication and to meet their educational needs. The local community should know that the service is making every effort to stop children committing offences and provide opportunities towards a brighter future.

Interim Chief Inspector of Probation Sue McAllister

The full inspection report is available online.