Friday brief: More reprimands for Northants police officers who acted unprofessionally
Plus news from across the county this sunny Friday.
A misconduct report published this week has revealed more unprofessional behaviour by Northants Police officers.
The report detailing misconducts and complaints handled by the force between January and March this year, gives new details of behaviour by some staff that has falled short of the set standards.
In January an officer was given a final written warning for not turning up to work after an operation they were involved in was cancelled. They did not log onto their laptop that day.
In February, following an outside investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), two officers were given a written warning after failing to listen to a child, communicate with their carer or recognise the child’s state of mind. Another officer was given a written warning in March for excessive use of force on two occasions.
The misconduct matters were dealt with by a meeting rather than a more formal misconduct hearing. The identity of the officers has not been given.
The disclosure comes after a series of misconduct issues in recent months. An senior detective working in the online child abuse unit was sacked earlier this month for using offensive language to colleagues and also speaking inappropriately to child victims.
The chief constable himself was found to be in contempt of court last year and as NN Journal exclusively revealed last week, three police staff including a senior officer are being criminally investigated by police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct in relation to the disclosures made before the courts in relation to the case.
The report says:
“During the fourth quarter of the year 2026, the Force dealt with 44,964 reported incidents and investigated 13,196 crimes which led to 2,568 arrests.
“During this period the Professional Standards Department (PSD) recorded a total of 480 new Complaint cases (public complaints) and 21 new Misconduct cases (internal matters).
“During this period PSD formally investigated and finalised a total of 21 cases of Misconduct, involving 13 Police Officers and 7 members of Police Staff and 1 Special Constable
3 cases resulted in a finding of no case to answer.
7 cases resulted in a case to answer for which reflective practice was the outcome.
3 cases resulted in a case to answer and were assessed as amounting to Misconduct
8 cases resulted in a case to answer and were assessed as amounting to gross misconduct
0 cases resulted with no action due to the individual leaving the force.
News from the county
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has been told it is at risk of facing an increased number of speculative planning applications, after a recent appeal found it could not prove it had a five-year housing land supply.
Local authorities must produce an annual statement setting out how many homes they are likely to deliver at suitable sites in future years. If they cannot demonstrate that they have enough housing sites coming forward to hit housing targets for the next five years, a ’tilted balance’ in favour of development is applied, impacting decision-making.
This means planning officers and elected members must give more weight to an application’s benefits against its adverse impacts. Local authorities in this position may face more speculative applications as they are often proactive schemes that target councils with weak planning policies, who face a higher bar to refuse plans.
WNC produced its most recent annual Housing Land Availability (HLA) Report in June last year, identifying a 5.5-year supply as of April 1, 2025. However, in a recent appeal into plans for 700 homes on the eastern edge of Brackley, the Inspector concluded that the council could not evidence this and that its supply actually sits around 4.6 years.
Members were told at a planning policy meeting on Wednesday (April 22) that a number of homes that they had counted in their calculations were challenged by the planning inspector.
Richard Wood, head of planning policy at WNC, added that the council has around 15,000 units that currently have outline permission or are allocated in local plans, but that they can’t all be included in the HLA due to issues evidencing their progression.
Without any additional information from developers, it is very difficult to provide firm evidence of delivery within a certain timescale. Mr Wood said there was no incentive or requirement for developers to engage.
“It’s stacked for the developer the way the system operates, there’s no doubt about it,” he told members.
Cllr Bob Purser (Labour, Abington and Phippsville) added:
“It’s in their interest not to tell us so therefore we can’t demonstrate it, then they can put in any speculative bid for any site, and then they win with tilted balance applied.”
The report states that an increase in speculative applications as a result of the Brackley decision is “expected”.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
The leader of West Northants Council has said the spiralling costs in the independent children’s trust are ‘beyond the control’ of councillors.
Once again the trust, which is led by Colin Foster, is predicting a £27m overspend on its annual budget, taking it to £213m. The two unitary councils have to cover the costs of the service, which is being impacted by the rising cost of independent placements for looked after children.
Leader of WNC Mark Arnull said the ‘pressures continue and will continue into the financial year.”
A woman leading the fight for a public enquiry into how Corby’s toxic steelworks waste was disposed of, recently commemorated the thirtieth birthday of her daughter, who died as a baby after being exposed to toxic chemicals while in the womb.
Shelby-Anne Taylor, died just four days old after being born on April 19 1996. Her mother Tracey Taylor, who along with Maggie Mahon and Susan McIntyre, had their lives portrayed in Netflix drama Toxic Town, is now leading the fight for a public inquiry into what happened.
Since the drama aired many more families have come forward with health concerns and there are fears the toxic waste, which we now understand was taken to other parts of Corby and Kettering rather than being disposed of as instructed, is having an ongoing health impact today.
North Northamptonshire Council’s director of public health commissioned a study looking at childhood cancer rates in the decade since 2010 and found there is not a higher cancer incidence rate in the town.
Tracey is working together with Collins Solicitors, which won a landmark case about the Corby toxic waste 2009, to get a public inquiry into what happened in the town.
In memory of her daughter Tracey has asked for donations to EarthWatch, an environmental charity which carried out water testing last summer, which revealed there are heavy metals in Corby’s fresh water systems. Any donations made before April 29 will be matched.
An ex-Reform councillor has made a complaint to the monitoring officer about the leader of the council revealing the details of a complaint against her, which has since been dropped.
Last month, West Northants Council (WNC) leader Mark Arnull said in a statement to the press that Cllr Kathryn Shaw was removed from her cabinet position for children’s services at the start of the year “after a complaint was received around Cllr Shaw discussing confidential information pertaining to a resident’s children in public”. He added that the matter was referred to the monitoring officer “immediately”.
This was included in his response to claims from the now-Independent councillor for Upton at a full council meeting that Cllr Arnull previously said he “doesn’t care about kids, [he] cares about politics”. The West Northants Reform UK leader dismissed her words as a “cynical misrepresentation of what was said” at the time.
Cllr Shaw has shown evidence to the LDRS that she has been removed as a subject member for the complaint against her, and it will not be progressed any further.
She said that the allegations being shared with the media before any official outcome was reached “raises serious questions about how sensitive information is being handled”.
A WNC spokesperson said that all member complaints are treated as confidential, with a minimal number of officers involved in considering each case.
“Should concerns arise regarding a breach of this confidentiality, this should be raised with the Monitoring Officer for review and investigation,” they added.
Cllr Shaw has said she has now submitted her own complaint to the monitoring officer, raising concerns about the disclosure of the details and the breach of confidentiality in the members’ complaints process.
She said: “I am speaking out because standards in public office matter, and right now, they are not being upheld.
“On 30 March, Councillor Mark Arnull made a public statement suggesting I had breached confidentiality and that the matter had been referred ‘immediately’. That statement was inaccurate and has caused reputational harm.
“On 14 April 2026, I received confirmation that I was removed as the subject member [of the complaint]. In any professional environment, matters under investigation are handled with confidentiality and care.
“It is deeply concerning that unproven allegations were placed into the public domain before any outcome had been reached. This raises serious questions about how sensitive information is being handled and whether appropriate governance standards are being applied.
“This is not about personality or politics. It is about process, integrity, and leadership.
“Residents of West Northamptonshire deserve leadership that is transparent, accountable, and grounded in the public interest. At present, I do not believe that standard is being met.”
The members’ complaints procedure states that it is confidential and the details of individual grievances are only shared with the monitoring officer and independent person on the complaints panel.
Complaints data is reported to the Democracy and Standards committee annually, but it is anonymised to only present the outline nature of the complaint and the outcome.
By Nadia Lincoln
The new £9.4m mortuary opened in Northampton today. The new building will house all the county’s post mortem services under one roof and see the end of hospital based services.
The project has been led by West Northamptonshire Council and developed in partnership with University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group, the Northamptonshire Coroner’s Service, police, and funeral directors.
Northants senior coroner Anne Pember said:
“The opening of the County Mortuary represents an important step forward for the Coroner’s Service.
“It provides the environment and facilities needed to carry out investigations effectively, while ensuring respect for the deceased and clear communication with families.”