New head of children's services investigates ‘growing trend’ in home education
Plus news from across the county and a stunning image of the Northern Lights
The North unitary council is looking at why so many families are choosing to educate their children at home, as the rates in the area are among the highest in the country.
New data for the North of the county has revealed that 248 families took their children out of state education in the twelve months to March, taking the number of homeschooled children in the area to 1051. (An increase of 119 per cent).
As NN Journal reported last month the number has also risen dramatically in the West of the county.
At yesterday’s executive meeting at Corby Cube, former teacher, Cllr Valerie Anslow, who represents Wellingborough’s Croyland and Swanspool ward, said the authority had a duty to investigate the rise, rather than just publish the figures.
She said:
“I would ask the council to investigate how many of these 1051 children are SEN (special education needs) and how many parents felt withdrawing their child from school is the only option as their needs are not being met.
“I’ve heard from residents where the school has said they can no longer meet their needs, or so their child isn’t excluded, they are de-registered.
“These children are at risk of being bullied, have sensory overload and heightened anxiety. That is why they leave. It is our responsibility to look into this growing trend of home education and not just publish the figures and look away.”
Cllr Scott Edwards, said the rise in home education was at the top of the agenda for the authority’s new director of children’s services Charisse Monero, who joined the authority from Islington Council recently.
He said the director had begun a deep dive into the issue and all children who are home educated and have an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) will have had a home visit by the end of this week.
He said the pandemic had an impact on the rise in parents withdrawing their child from school.
He said:
“Unfortunately covid started the home education increase where parents did not feel schools were the right place and it felt safer for their child to be at home.”
He said it was a national issue but there is a ‘slight blip’ in North Northants, which is why it is being investigated.
At the meeting, Cllr Anne Lee also raised an issue with professionals not being responded to when they raise concerns with the county’s multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) about the safety of a child.
She said she had heard from people working with children who said they were having to wait too long for a response.
Cllr Lyn Buckingham also highlighted concerns about the amount of time it is taking to set up family hubs in the area. A family hub opened in Wellingborough last year and another opened in Kettering last month. Hubs in Corby and East Northants are due to open next year.
Cllr Edwards said there had been delays which had in part been to do with legal issues. He said a family hub did not have to be a physical place and family hub apps had been used in Corby and East Northants.
News in brief
The Northern Lights were visible over the county last night. Here is a photo taken by Jaimie Varnfield of the aurora borealis above East Carlton, near Corby.
The county’s police force is encouraging people who may have been victims of ‘sextortion’ to come forward.
Sextortion is a form of blackmail where someone is encouraged or tricked into sharing sexual images or videos. The victim is then threatened with exposure unless they send the criminal money or continue sending them content.
Northants police receives an average of four sextortion reports a week, but says the crime is under-reported.
In recent months, detectives have been investigating cases involving younger people, aged 16-20, who have been encouraged to send sexual photos and videos in exchange for money.
Detective constable Charlotte Orr said:
“We believe that a lot of sextortion offences go unreported because the victim feels too embarrassed to come forward.
“Sextortion has even been linked to suicide and self-harm because people feel trapped, unable to talk to anyone, or incapable of asking for help.
“We want to change that and let victims know that they should not feel ashamed in reporting a sextortion offence, regardless if money has already been exchanged, as it is a crime to blackmail someone.
“If you have shared intimate images and find yourself being blackmailed as a result, please report it immediately to the police and try not to panic - you are a victim and it is not your fault.”
People can report sextortion to Northamptonshire Police by calling 101, or online here.
Northamptonshire’s two unitaries have paid more than £60,000 in 2023/24 to compensate residents whose complaints were upheld by the local government watchdog.
Both West and North Northants councils revealed their yearly statistics from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) at their executive meetings this week. The Ombudsman is a body that investigates complaints made against councils to help resolve issues in a range of areas including education, adult social care, housing and planning decisions.
In total, 101 complaints were made to the LGSCO about North Northants Council’s (NNC) services in the last financial year, up from 64 in 2022/23.
Altogether, 17 cases were upheld where the council was ordered to remedy their failures. Across the year, NNC paid out a massive £45,410 to compensate the individuals who made complaints.
Almost half of the upheld complaints were about the council’s education and children’s services, mainly relating to special educational needs faults and delays in issuing care assessment plans.
Cllr Scott Edwards, executive member for children and education said:
“I’m truly sorry for those children that have had to go to the Ombudsman because I know that the education team and the SEND team within North Northants are trying their hardest to get children’s placements, to get EHCPs done in what is a really difficult time.
“I am sorry that these complaints are higher- one complaint is too high. There is a plan there, we are working on it, we will get there.”
For West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) 21 complaints were upheld in 2023/2024 compared to 29 in the previous financial year. The Ombudsman also received 111 complaints about the authority in total.
Cllr Fiona Baker, cabinet member for children and education said:
“Complaints around special educational needs remains a key area and is a significant pressure for the local authority. The education service has appointed a dedicated lead in education for SEND to respond to complaints to ensure we stay in touch with people who are facing delays or have had reason to complain.”
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
West Northants Council (WNC) says lessons have been learnt from the sale and repurchase of the old St James Bus Depot, as it enters a similar arrangement in selling off another derelict town centre building to a luxury shoe manufacturer.
Listed building Horizon House, off the St Peter’s Way roundabout, has been given the go-ahead to be sold to boot and shoe maker John Lobb who want to create a new site for factory operations.
The now-defunct Northampton Borough Council first purchased the property in 2017 looking to provide a new headquarters for Northampton Partnership Homes. The site has remained vacant for many years and has since fallen into a state of disrepair.
John Lobb approached the authority to ask about purchasing the site and bringing it back into use in late 2023.
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday scrutinising the decision, deputy leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Bob Purser, compared the Horizon House sale to the “old bus garage debacle”. He asked the cabinet if the council had “learnt the lessons” from the unfulfilled bus depot plans.
The former Northampton Borough Council sold the St James Bus Depot in 2014 to shoe firm Church’s, who planned to expand their operations into the large site. A decade later, the former bus garage remained bordered up and plans were never submitted by the shoe manufacturer.
WNC bought the site back last year, at a loss, for £3.3 million with the intention to convert it into ‘high-quality’ homes. As revealed by NN Journal, the bus depot was originally sold to Church’s at half the price for just £1.6m.
Cllr Daniel Lister, portfolio holder for local economy, culture and leisure, said that the council had learnt from its previous venture. He added that the buyback is ‘correct’ so that WNC would be able to purchase Horizon House back at the purchase price if needed.
He said the John Lobb project was supported by several factors, including the sale price matching the independent market valuation, the creation of jobs, the preservation of the listed building’s heritage and strengthening Northampton’s position in the luxury footwear industry.
Report by Nadia Lincoln
The inquest into the death of teenager Chloe Longster who died of sepsis at Kettering General Hospital has been held this week. The inquest has heard from medical staff who said opportunities were missed to save Chloe, who died in 2022.
Kate Cronin from the Northants Telegraph has been at the inquest each day and her reports can be read here.
Westminster Watch
Corby and East Northants’ new Labour MP Lee Barron made his maiden speech this week in Westminster. As is tradition, he paid tribute to various parts of the constituency, tracing back his own family history to Raunds, where his father worked in the shoe trade and paying tribute to Corby’s past and the resilience of the people who built the town back after the steelworks closed.
The former trade unionist also spoke about rights for workers who become terminally ill.
He said:
“The House is going to discuss dignity in dying, but there is another aspect to it that I want to talk about. In this country, it is legal to sack a worker on the grounds of capability when they have a terminal diagnosis. That is fundamentally wrong; we need to close that loophole and make sure that the last thing people worry about when they have such a diagnosis is the future of their job. We should not be treating people like that and we need to make the changes accordingly.”
There's a visible arrogance there. People are lawfully entitled to home school their children, and provided they're doing a competent job and the child's welfare needs are being met - as any diligent parent should do regardless of their child's schooling status - it really is none of WNC's business.