Homeless death prompts call for changes in rough sleeper support

Plus the usual news digest from across the Northamptonshire patch

Cllr Valerie Anslow has concerns after a rough sleeper died in Wellingborough this week

A Labour councillor who used to run Wellingborough’s night shelter has said the current system to protect rough sleepers is not working, in the week a man died in a town centre park.

The man, who has not been named and is said to have been from out of the area, died on Sunday night in Croyland Gardens during the cold spell, which saw temperatures drop to as low as minus 4 degrees.

In an email sent to the council’s senior officers and the cabinet member for housing, Cllr Mark Rowley, Labour councillor Valerie Anslow said the authority needs to do better to help people who are without a home. According to law councils have a duty to accommodate homeless people during sub zero temperatures under the severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP).

Cllr Anslow said:

“There needs to be a change of mind by this authority towards those who are homeless. It is not good enough to have increased the number of officers on the rough sleepers team, if there are still people who are not identified as homeless and therefore whose needs are not being met. It is a crime that the reported homeless figures for North Northants are still 13, across the whole authority. Anyone who cares or anyone who works with charities that support the homeless, know this is untrue. But while we continue to believe that the system we have in place is working, then deaths will continue.

“I will reiterate what I said at the executive meeting on the 16^th November. Before covid changed the landscape and "Everyone in" was the good news for those on the streets, there were shelters run by community groups in Rushden, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough. These facilities provided the safe place for those who for one reason or another did not reach the criteria for temporary accommodation. 

“There are still people who fit this category; there are still those who sleep in the open rather than engage with officers and meet the criteria that exists now. This should not mean that no support is given to them, that they are left to the elements and they are blamed for their predicament. So instead of homeless shelters, we have doorways littered with wet bedding, parks scattered with disused tents and nowhere safe for the most vulnerable to sleep. Added to that, SWEP is offered but as in the case of three people in Wellingborough over the weekend, one person was offered a place locally, the other two had to travel to Corby for accommodation...literally there was no room at the inn.”

In response to questions asked by NN Journal the authority said it had a clear and robust protocol for SWEP and that staff who work in the authority dealing with SWEP activation are very experienced.

It said since November SWEP had triggered for five consecutive nights from November 29 and eight people had been accommodated.

NN Journal had been told the emergency out of hours helpline for Northamptonshire rough sleepers was being handled outside of the county.

The council admitted this is the case and said it is ‘not unusual practice’.

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News in brief

Residents wanting to make sure Weekley Hall Wood remains a green haven for Kettering, spoke at the public enquiry this week. Around 40 people made their case on Wednesday evening and told the reasons why the woodland and meadowland is important to them. Owner the Duke of Buccleuch, wants to build on the green space with a logistics park of up to six warehouses. 

His company Buccleuch Property petitioned for the enquiry saying the planning authority North Northamptonshire Council had failed to determine the planning application in time. The planning authority and the 11,000 strong campaign group Save Weekley Hall Wood say the planning inspector should refuse the application because it is outside the bounds of what was planned for the area. Today will be the final day of the inquiry and a result will be published shortly.

Adam Riley image of the under threat meadow

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Councillors of all political parties were full of praise for the appointment of North Northamptonshire Council’s new chief executive Adele Wylie at its full council meeting last night.

Adele Wylie, has been promoted from the council’s chief legal officer, to the top job, having responsibility for all service delivery as well as running elections.

Conservative council leader Jason Smithers praised Adele Wylie as an ‘exceptional candidate’. Leader of the Green Party Emily Fedorowycz, who was on the appointment panel said her vision, enthusiasm for North Northamptonshire was what the authority needed.

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Labour Party members including parliamentary candidates Lucy Rigby (Northampton North) and Gen Kitchen (Wellingborough) marked the centenary of the election of trailblazer Margaret Bondfield to parliament. Bondfield, who represented Northampton, was one of the first three Labour MPs elected in 1923 and went on to become the first female cabinet member of any party, given the position of Minister for Labour. Throughout her life (she died in 1953) she was an advocate for workers rights and also for the rights of women.

Lucy Rigby said:

“She was an incredible woman. We should all know her name - nationally, not just locally’.

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Parents at a Brackley school have accused the Department of Education (DfE) of “parachuting” in new trustees to “finish the job” and shut down the facility. Southfield Primary Academy, will close at the end of the academic year due to a lack of pupils on the school roll, making it financially unviable.

Families were told of the closure at the beginning of October and have been demanding information from the DfE and trustees since. Brackley Town Council (BTC) sent a list of questions to the parties involved, but called the responses they received in return “a lot of flimflam”.

Both the parent group and BTC asked the DfE for their business case and viability assessments through an FOI, which was restricted and hasn’t yet come to light. Councillor Will King, who spoke at a meeting of Brackley Town Council on Monday, said that he had never seen a response with such “broadly-lacked detail” and wished to put on record the town council’s “disagreement with what’s been done”.

One of the reasons submitted by the trust for closure was a lack of students- in September this year, the school had 129 pupils enrolled but a capacity for up to 428. However, a freedom of information request made to West Northants Council from a parents’ group predicts that the Magdalen area will see an increase of 205 primary pupils over the next five years.

The DfE’s response to Brackley Town Council said: “The decision to close this school has been made through mutual agreement between the trust and the Minister. The DfE, ESFA, WNC and the trust continue to work closely to manage the implications of this decision.

“The school has been operating under capacity since 2012 and pupil numbers have been falling since 2016. We are keen to minimise the disruption to pupils at the school and their families and WNC’s admissions team are working with parents to secure places in alternative schools.”

Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter

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Westminster Watch

Corby MP Tom Pursglove is back as an immigration minister after a week of fall outs over the Rwanda deportation plan.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick resigned this week in protest at the bill PM Rishi Sunak has tabled, as he says it does not allow the government to override international laws that have up to now prevent the government sending asylum seekers to the African country.

Since the government announced the Rwanda deportation plan it has not been able to send one person to the country due to legal challenges and last month the Supreme Court ruled the scheme was unlawful.

The matter is now being seen as a key issue for the prime minister and he may face a revolt from the right wing of his party. He said yesterday that his patience is wearing thin on the matter.

Sunak has moved Pursglove away from his department of work and pensions brief and back into the home office where he will be minister of legal immigration. Michael Tomlinson has been appointed as minister for illegal immigration.

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NN Events

🎄 A Christmas market is taking place in James Ashworth Square, Corby today from 3pm to 8pm.

🎵 The South (featuring Alison Wheeler of the Beautiful South) is performing at the Picturedrome, Northampton tomorrow at 7.30pm.

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