Friday brief: Football club wants to set up SEN school on site
Here's our regular round up of some Northants news that has occurred this week
A financially under pressure football club has announced hopes to create an SEN school on site.
Corby Town Football Club revealed the plans this week, as part of its hopes to make the club financially stable long term.
The club, which plays in Southern League Division One, has been in financial dire straits recently, with co-owner James Longley cutting the budget in December and manager Gary Setchell quitting in response.
Longley, who co-owns the club with fellow major investor Paul Glass, said it would have cost an extra £50,000 to keep the budget as it was, as disappointing gate, food and drink sales, had put the finances under pressure.
A statement issued on the football club’s website on Wednesday, said a new community interest company structure would be needed to bring all finance elements of the club together.
It said:
“Following months of collaboration with key partners, the local council, and national governing bodies, plans are progressing to deliver a transformative, long-term development that will redefine what football can offer in the town. At the heart of this vision is not only enhanced football provision, but also the introduction of a dedicated SEND school, expanding opportunities for children with additional needs.
“The inclusion of a SEND school marks a significant milestone in the club’s evolution, extending its impact beyond sport into education and social inclusion. This provision will create meaningful opportunities for children who need additional support, reinforcing the club’s role at the heart of the community.
“Delivering this element requires the highest standards of governance, safeguarding, and operational clarity — all of which are central to the new structure being introduced.”
The club’s limited company, which lists Longley, Glass and outgoing chairman Steven Noble as directors, is late filing some paperwork with Companies House.
There is also an associated existing community interest company called Corby Rockingham Triangle Sport Club CIC, which was set up in 2009 under then club owned Peter Mallinger (who had previously owned Kettering Town Football Club). This CIC was linked to a deal struck between the former Corby Borough Council and football club, which would see the club be paid to manage the sporting assets in the area. This deal later led to a dispute, with the club claiming the council owed it huge sums.
Glass, who is listed as a director of more than 600 companies, is director of the CIC. A number of times over the years it has been due for compulsory strike off, including most recently in November last year. But last month a number of new directors were added.
It is unclear where any new school would go. There is a run-down building attached to the football club’s bar, which was formerly the club house for the neighbouring athletics club which is also on site. This is the only existing vacant building.
There is a shortage of SEN places in the county, with NNC having to use expensive out of county placements to school children.
NN Journal asked North Northamptonshire Council, which is the education authority and also the owner of the freehold of Steel Park, for more details and it said:
“The Council has been informed of this intention, and a meeting will be arranged between officers and Corby Town Football Club to explore the matter further.”
The former Corby Borough Council paid for the new stand at Steel Park in the late 2000s. It was one of the projects that came under criticism in 2013 by auditors, as it went over budget and the costs were covered by the council as the club did not have the funds.
Other news from the county
A teenage school girl died after falling off an electric bike in Corby town centre.
The girl, 13, who has not been named, died at hospital on Tuesday after suffering serious injuries when the bike crashed in Elizabeth Street.
Northants Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident which happened between 2pm and 3pm. Anyone with information is asked to email CollisionAppeals@northants.police.uk or call Northamptonshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 26000198505.
North Northamptonshire Council wants to use £18 million of capital funding over the next four years to boost its supply of council homes.
A report going to the executive on Tuesday (April 14) asks to delegate authority to senior council officers so they are able to purchase land and/or properties to provide additional council homes within North Northamptonshire. Its housing waiting list exceeds 7,000 applicants.
The authority says it will use Right to Buy (RTB) capital receipts to invest in new affordable housing and increase the supply of suitable, good‑quality homes
As of March 2026, North Northants Council (NNC) reported that its Keyways housing waiting list was made up of almost 7,300 applicants. According to a breakdown, the highest levels of housing need are in Corby and Kettering, with the greatest pressures for up to three-bed properties.
NNC went out to consultation last year on proposals to cut the waiting list in half by removing all applicants in the lowest band and other changes to its qualification criteria. It is anticipated that a report on the changes will go to the executive in May 2026 for the final scheme to be considered and approved.
The council has noted that the current housing pressure it is facing underpins the importance of expanding its supply of council homes. It will also reduce NNC’s reliance on costly temporary accommodation.
The report adds:
“New homes also bring clear operational and financial benefits. By balancing an ageing stock profile with the acquisition of high-quality new homes, the Council can reduce future capital liabilities, provide better homes for tenants, and improve regulatory assurance.”
The council’s Housing Revenue Capital Programme for 2026 to 2030 was approved in February this year and allocates £4.5 million each year to be put towards the delivery of new housing.
If the executive approves the report next week, NNC will start work to identify properties and or land in North Northamptonshire to support the delivery of the new housing.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Northampton has become the third place in Northants to try and become the first ever ‘town of culture’. West Northamptonshire Council announced this week that it had submitted a bid to the government to be selected for a £3m cash prize to deliver a cultural programme. Corby and Kettering have also been nominated by their town councils.
Brookside creator Sir Phil Redmond has been appointed by culture secretary Lisa Nandy to lead a panel that will make the final decision. There will be a main winner as well as two other towns that will win £250,000 each.
North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) is set to agree to extend a long-term contract and keep its current highways maintenance service in place for an extra year.
A place and environment scrutiny meeting heard that a recent strategic performance review found that Kier’s performance on highways was “passable” for an extension. A formal improvement plan has also been developed to address any shortfalls and evidence progress in future years.
This means that the authority’s seven-year highways contract, which began in September 2022, will remain with Kier until 2030 at least.
NNC’s head of highways delivery, Jonathan Pearson, told committee members that the assessment showed that the highways service is “sufficiently stable and performing at a satisfactory level” to qualify for its first one-year extension. Most areas met the council’s level three ‘satisfactory’ service standard according to the report.
“At the same time, the assessment is clear that improvements are required,” he continued.
Areas highlighted for improvement include customer service and communication, operational resilience and capacity during peak winter demand, moving to ‘right first time’ and ‘leave no defect behind’ methodology, and assuring data is used to drive value for money and innovation. The plan will be monitored over the next 12 months.
The extension of the contract can take place under delegated authority, which means that approval is not required from the elected members of the executive. The report noted that it had been taken to scrutiny as an important step in ensuring “transparency, assurance and oversight” of the decision.
However, concerns were raised that not enough data had been given for members to properly inspect the reasons behind accepting the extension.
Philip Finch-Archer, a member of the public speaking on the issue, questioned why the report did not include key performance data that would normally underpin a contract extension, such as the number of repeat pothole failures and the average cost per repair.
He told members that he had submitted multiple freedom of information requests to the council on ‘right first time’ and ‘repeat failure’ repairs, raising concerns about how they were being recorded and assessed. He also criticised the council for not being able to determine the cost of individual defect repairs, which he said makes it difficult to demonstrate value for money from Kier.
Mr Finch-Archer added:
“Scrutiny is being asked to accept a performance assessment without seeing the performance. I do believe scrutiny needs assurance that the underlying performance data exists, is complete, and is being used to inform decisions.”
Cllr David Baker (Labour, Victoria ward) agreed, saying “zero data” had been provided to evidence the extension decision.
“[The review] concludes performance is sufficient and passable – it’s hardly a ringing endorsement, is it? Now we don’t have a decision-making role here, but I’m pretty sure I know what my position would be if we did,” he said.
Cllr Emily Fedorowycz (Green, Kettering North) added: “We’re starting from a place of already declining and this improvement plan doesn’t give the assurance that it’s going to get better. We need to have regular scrutiny on this to make sure this improvement plan is working and dig into the level of detail that we need.”
Councillors were told by officers that the paper deliberately did not detail all of the scoring assessments within the review, but rather provided a summary of key strengths and areas for improvement. They added that a report will be brought back to scrutiny in six months time when specific work on the improvements has started.
A joint scrutiny panel looking into highways and the Kier contract is also due to take place in the future.
Kier will be required to submit evidence to demonstrate its achievements against the improvement plan when the next one-year extension is assessed in 2027.
In total, Kier is eligible for up to three years of ‘earned’ extensions, which are achieved by meeting performance targets throughout the contract period, and up to four years of ‘discretionary’ extensions.
By Nadia Lincoln