Friday brief: Calls on council to address the St Andrew’s Healthcare situation
Here's our regular end of the week news round up.
Northant’s West unitary authority has been asked to explain what action it will be taking as the county’s largest mental health charity faces severe challenges.
St Andrew’s Healthcare announced the sudden closure of Workbridge, the long established centre for people with complex needs last month and a director said the issue of whether St Andrew’s could continue was being looked at.
The charity, which has an annual turnover of £217m, has had its income severely reduced after the social care regulator the Care Quality Commission banned it from taking in any more patients after an inspection visit this summer.
The charity employs hundreds of people and also cares for significant numbers of people with mental health needs from across the country.
At last night’s West Northamptonshire Council full council meeting leader of the Labour group Sally Keeble, asked council leader Mark Arnull what action the council was taking.
She said:
“We’ve already seen that CAMHS is closed, the dementia care is closed, the Workbridge is due to close.
“And that is a much loved and much valued part of Northampton life. There’s also actually fears for St Andrew’s as a whole. Some people say it’s too big to fail, but it is very severely challenged, and there are real concerns for people about their long term employment and also about the care services.
“So what I would ask you, and it would be really helpful if you would give a verbal assurance as well as give the information in writing, is what the council is doing?
“What discussions it’s having with St Andrew’s and also what approaches it is making to the MPs and government and others to make sure that if, if the worst does happen that there’ll be proper arrangements for the placement of residents. Bearing in mind that a lot of residents come from outside Northampton, but they may have lost contact with their home, with their home communities, or they may not want to go back there, so they may well need placements here.
“And also what’s going to happen about employment, because St Andrew’s is a major employer here, particularly for young people.”
She asked the leader Cllr Arnull to give a verbal update as well as a fuller written response and he said:
“We’ve asked our colleagues in council departments to look at options in which we can continue to support St Andrew’s and if not directly, indirectly and I’m happy to write back to you.”
There was fall out between the Reform UK administration and other political parties last night as the Conservative chairwoman refused to allow a Reform UK motion about digital id. In response the leader said his cabinet members, who have in the past been criticised for not speaking at meetings, were told not to given spoken answers, to councillor questions and would only answer in writing.
Others news
The below expected educational outcomes for pupils living in the North of the county were discussed this week.
Government data has shown that students are performing well below the national average when it comes to GCSE outcomes and results have been falling year on year since the pandemic.
Speaking at a children, young person and education scrutiny committee on Tuesday, head of educational effectiveness at North Northamptonshire Council, Simon Bissett, said:
“The simple analysis of the 2025 educational outcomes is, unfortunately, the local authority is not above any of the national standards in any educational outcome.
“What has happened in relation to the teaching of children with EHCPs and those with SEND support has improved over time. Unfortunately, what I would have to add to that is there is a considerable gap between the achievement of those children and all other children.
“We recognise there’s a lot of work for us to do with our settings. We just need to build that relationship with our schools where we can challenge where we think they’ve fallen below that standard, but they also know we’re supporting them all the way.”
Assistant director of education, Amanda Butler, also pointed out a disparity in educational outcomes depending on postcode. She said that NNC data shows that, on average, children in Corby are achieving less academically and that those under five in the town are already coming into school with lower communication skills and a greater level of need.
She explained that this was likely due to a mixture of reasons to do with demographics in the area, the levels of deprivation and aspiration and opportunity post-school.
Education officers told councillors that early years help is now being prioritised to make sure there isn’t a gap at the beginning of a child’s education, and then progress can be monitored throughout school age. They explained that measures include early childcare advisors going out to settings across North Northants to support them and tripling the staff in the early years team.
A new education improvement framework was also launched in September of this year, which sets out how the council will continue to work with schools and academies to support facilities and ultimately improve the life chances of all children and young people, with a strong emphasis on vulnerable and disadvantaged learners.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is forecast to spend £22m on home-to-school transport services this year, as the total spend has ballooned by around £7m over the last four years.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, WNC said the money will be spent on getting 6,842 children to school every day. Councils must provide free school transport to all children aged between four and 16 whose nearest school is more than three miles away.
WNC’s provision also covers children under eight years old, where the walking distance is more than two miles, and some children over the age of 16 who have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to their nearest suitable school.
The cost of this service has risen dramatically over the last few years for the authority, partially due to a large increase in the number of students accessing the council travel assistance. In 2022/23, there were 5,930 students using home-to-school transport services in West Northants – almost 1,000 less than current levels.
The largest growth in West Northants has come from the provision for SEND students, with a further 612 students accessing school travel assistance, compared to a growth of 300 pupils across mainstream schools. This means the number of SEND children accessing the service has grown by 59 per cent over the four years, compared to a six per cent growth in the mainstream cohort.
The most expensive individual contract for WNC was £56,050 a year to transport just one child 190 miles to their place of education twice a week.
Research published by the National Audit Office found local authority spend on home-to-school transport has risen by 70 per cent since 2015/16, costing councils £2.3bn in 2023/24. At the same time, national requests for the service from children with special educational needs rose by 106 per cent to an estimated average cost of £8,116 per year per pupil.
Families of children who are over 16, or who do not meet the walking distance criteria, must contribute £1,000 for the academic year if they wish to access WNC-organised school travel assistance.
The cost of this service was frozen last year, but increased for families from £600 per year in 2023/24. When asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) about whether the fee will rise again in next year’s budget to account for further price increases, the council said it was “currently under review”.
A West Northamptonshire Council spokesperson said the rising costs of the transport services are a national issue, but that it was working on a number of initiatives locally to tackle it. This includes continual improvements in data management and considering new ways of working, such as the Billing Brook home-to-school pilot, which launched this spring.
This gives pupils with special educational needs (SEN) the chance to access bespoke virtual reality content which guides them through the steps of a bus journey and hopes to increase their confidence using public transport. WNC has said there is the potential to expand the programme to serve more families.
By Nadia Lincoln
Dozens of concerned residents packed into a village council meeting last week to voice their opposition to plans for a temporary Travellers’ stopping site near Woodford.
More than 30 people attended the parish council meeting on Tuesday, November 18 at Woodford Baptist Chapel, in response to North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) agreeing to go forward with ‘Generals Corner’, a site south of Junction 11 of the A14 currently used by the council as a chippings store, as its preferred option for the stopping site.
Woodford Parish Council has since reported that the meeting was the longest session it had chaired in over 25 years, with much of the time being dominated by a question-and-answer session on the proposals. The seating area was packed in the small meeting room and members of the public lined the walls to take part in the discussion.
NNC does not currently have a dedicated stopping site to serve Travellers passing through the area. If a site is approved, it is hoped that it would reduce the impact of unauthorised Traveller encampments as police will be able to use new Section 62 powers to demand unauthorised camps to move to the dedicated site, or leave the county and not return within 12 months.
So far in 2025, NNC has reported 91 new unauthorised encampments across the whole county. It is expected the new legislation will allow better and faster enforcement, rather than the current process which takes up to 10 days and can lead to groups moving to a new location on council owned land, which can sometimes occur numerous times.
Groups who choose to stay at the dedicated stopping site will be able to stay on a plot for a maximum of 28 days and would have to pay £120 per week per pitch, plus a security deposit of £250 to cover any damage upfront.
Cllr Kirk Harrison, executive member for regulatory services who attended the meeting, said that the location was “by no means a done deal”, but that the Woodford site was the only site in the council’s ownership that met all of the criteria.
A previous site that had been earmarked at Junction 3 of the A14, near Rothwell, in 2023 was dropped after a further viability review found there were complications with engineering and ground work required.
He said the proposals would be subject to targeted public consultation.
By Nadia Lincoln
The leader of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has branded a petition raising concerns about the impact of the new tip booking system, which received hundreds of signatures, “a load of rubbish”.
From the start of November, residents were told they must register for a bookable slot ahead of time to access any of the six tips across West Northamptonshire. The authority said this would help reduce queues, ease pressure on surrounding roads, and ensure a smoother experience for residents.
The Liberal Democrat group brought forward the Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRC) petition to full council yesterday evening. They claimed there was a “glaring lack of consultation” on the changes that took place and highlighted residents’ worries that the new system could have a negative impact on fly-tipping and overflowing bins at kerbside collections.
Council leader Mark Arnull explained that the decision was negotiated under the previous Conservative administration in its waste contract renewal, but stated that the booking system change was “delivering some good for our residents already”.
“I’m not sure this petition is anything more than a load of rubbish itself,” he told the chamber.
“The waste that was being processed through those centres, approximately 10 per cent – from the figures that I’ve been given – was coming from outside of the area, so it’s important we stand up for West Northants taxpayers and we do not pay for waste that’s not coming from our area.
“In week three of the booking system, 89 per cent of the visits at the recycling centres across West Northants were from bookings, so there is a significant move there that people are adopting the system and they do understand.
“Many people present would argue this is a frivolous waste of time. We will see.”
West Northamptonshire Council has today released figures that says more than 21,000 visits in their first few weeks of operating, with two-thirds of visits made on the same day the appointment was made.
By Nadia Lincoln
News in brief
📣 A decision for a council to bring management of its housing stock back in house has been called in.
West Northants councillors will scrutinise the decision made by the Reform UK administration earlier this month.
The scrutiny meeting will happen on Monday at One Angle Square, Northampton at 6pm.
👢 Women will be able to take a walk with a female police officer from the new year in a new scheme being launched in East Northants.
The Walk & Talk events are the idea of Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant - Leigh Françoise Goodwin, and are open to all women who live or work in the area.
They will be able to share safety concerns and locations which they feel are particularly unsafe.
The first planned event is at 6pm on January 9 with PC Linda Green and for more details email NeighbourhoodTeamEastNorthants@northants.police.uk.
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