03 May 2023

Over the next few weeks many of us will be enjoying the upcoming bank holidays and may be hosting family and friends.

We’ve put together a simple checklist to help you make the most of your food over the bank holiday and avoid becoming unwell because of poorly prepped or stored food and avoid food waste going in your bin.

Step one – beforehand

• Check the number of people you’re cooking for if you’re hosting – check for any allergies or dietary needs
• Plan out your food to make the most of what you’re cooking and avoid waste
• Make the most out of offers or discounts to help save money where you can

Step two – storing and preparing your food

• Store food in the right places, checking labels for storage instructions – make the most of fridge and freezers and store raw meat at the bottom of your fridge
• Check your fridge’s temperature, because the temperature of your fridge can rise when it's full, increasing the chance of food poisoning. Your fridge should be between 0-5°C
• Check for use by dates and stick to these, as tempting as it might be to go over a day or so
• Be sure to take any meat out to defrost the night or day before, and ensure it is fully thawed before you begin cooking.

Step three – cooking food

• Wash your hands before and throughout dinner preparations, especially after handling raw meat
• Use different chopping boards and utensils for raw and ready to eat/cooked food. Wash any equipment thoroughly in hot, soapy water between uses
• Make sure any meat is cooked through – there should be no visible pink meat, juices are running clear and use a food thermometer to check meat reaches 75°C in the thickest part
• Put leftovers in a sealed container inside the fridge within two hours of cooking, to be used within two days
• Split food into smaller portions to help speed up the cooling time.

Step five – enjoying leftovers

• Keep chilled foods out of fridge for no longer than four hours
• Eat food within two days of cooking or defrosting
• When reheating, only reheat once and ensure the food is steaming hot.

To find out more about food safety and guidance visit the Food Standards Agency website. 

03 May 2023

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has launched a range of free adult numeracy courses aimed at helping people brush up on their maths skills and become more confident with numbers.

The courses, known as Multiply, are designed to make maths simpler for everyone and show that even those who struggled with maths in school can feel confident with numeracy in their day-to-day lives.

Launched as part of the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund programme, Multiply includes numeracy courses for beginners and those who want to build on the foundations of their maths knowledge, to more advanced offers such as GCSE Maths and Level 2 Functional Skills Qualifications.

There are a range of flexible online courses available as well as one-to-one mentoring – all designed to fit around people’s busy schedules.

People can take a short quiz to understand which areas of numeracy they might want to improve by visiting the Skills for Life website.

The free Multiply courses are available for individuals who:

• live in West Northamptonshire and are aged 19 and over
• have not achieved a maths GCSE of at least a Grade C or equivalent
• may want to develop numeracy skills for work
• want to brush up and develop their numeracy skills for everyday life

Multiply forms part of almost £575k allocated to help improve adult numeracy in the area by the Department for Education in partnership with WNC.

Feeling confident with numbers helps in every aspect of life, from measuring food ingredients, mixing hair dye and checking invoices, to helping the children with their homework or even setting up in business.

Through Multiply, we want to boost people’s confidence and ability to use maths and numbers effectively in daily life, at home and work. This includes helping people attain a formal qualification to open doors to new jobs, career progression and further study.

If you want to brush up on your numeracy skills and feel more confident with figures, don’t hesitate – take a look at the courses available today.

Cllr Daniel Lister, WNC’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth

For more information about Multiply and to view the full range of courses, visit our Multiply page.

03 May 2023

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has reached a key milestone in its journey towards becoming a net zero local authority by achieving its first national environmental accreditation.

Following an independent audit, the Council has earned Bronze Award accreditation with the Investors in the Environment scheme (iiE), recognising its commitment towards sustainability.

The iiE scheme is designed to help organisations improve their environmental performance and reduce their impact on the environment, save time and money as well as get recognition for their progress. Bronze status is the first of three iiE accreditation levels the Council is working towards achieving to ensure environmental excellence.

WNC is committed to achieving Net Zero for its own emissions by 2030 and Net Zero West Northants emissions by 2045, with the recent publication of its baseline emissions report for 2021-22 last month representing a significant step forward in meeting its sustainability goals.

In just 12 months since the launch of its Sustainability Strategy and less than two years since the Council was formed, WNC has made great progress in meeting its sustainability objectives, including:

• Setting out a new Sustainable West Northants Strategy and mapping activities, services and priorities against the UN Sustainable Development Goals so everyone can see how they contribute
• Establishing a new dedicated Sustainability Team, staff network and councillors net zero action group to guide, influence and involve communities, colleagues and partners
• Harnessing strong support from our Leadership Team and signing up to the national UK100 Network to drive forward change and gather best practice
• Establishing an online Sustainable West Northamptonshire information hub and social media channels to promote, share and encourage good practice
• Building upon early activities from the legacy councils and improving and expanding use of innovation and technology such as e-scooters and robot deliveries
• Expanding electric vehicle charge points by installing 62 new charging bays giving residents the confidence to choose clean green transport
• Extending our e-scooter scheme that led to 1,055,769 car journeys being avoided and 505 tonnes CO2 reduction
• Supported our partners at Starship Technologies and the Co-op to extend on-demand robot grocery deliveries to over 80,000 homes across Northampton leading to131,383 miles in car journeys avoided and 56,293kg CO2 reduction.

We’re delighted to be awarded Bronze iiE Accreditation, recognising our commitment to cutting emissions and meeting our 2030 target to achieve net zero as well as celebrate our achievements so far. 

Like many other organisations across the country, we are aware of our climate impact and are dedicated to making changes to our relationship with the environment in order to make a difference today, and for future generations. Now we have this initial recognition, we look forward to achieving a higher-level rating as soon as possible, as we progress our Net Zero journey.

We have ambitious targets, and it is essential that we come together to make a change with both large and small steps in the right direction. There are a number of ways you can join and support our journey. You may already act sustainably in your daily life without thinking about it, whether it is walking to the shops, recycling milk bottles or donating clothes to charity. So, to make an even bigger impact, let’s all make these acts a conscious and concerted effort.

Cllr Jonathan Nunn, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council

There are three key Sustainability Pledges which outline WNC’s primary commitments, which are to:

• Net Zero the Council’s own emissions by 2030 and those of residents and businesses by 2045
• Take a community leadership role for Sustainability in West Northants
• Ensure all Council strategies and policies are aligned to and contribute to the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Make your sustainability pledge, and find out more on our Sustainable West Northants page

04 May 2023

We might be coming out of the winter season now, but West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Kier Highways are getting prepared and are already planning ahead for winter 2023.

Primary school pupils across West Northamptonshire attended a road safety assembly, and were invited to take part in a competition to name one of our gritters ready for our next gritting season - and the names did not disappoint.

With over 700 entries from four schools, the winter team at Kier, along with Kier’s General Manager John Coombes, and Cllr Phil Larratt, cabinet member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, have had the important task of choosing the winning names. 

Pupils aged 4 to 11 entered from Brixworth Primary School, St Luke’s Primary School, East Haddon Primary School and Croughton Primary School. Each school has since been revisited by the Kier team with an opportunity to board a gritter. 

The winning gritter names are:
•    Snow Drop
•    Roadzipper
•    Frosty Flakes
•    Great Gritain
•    Salt n Pepper
•    Salty Sam
•    Pretty Gritty (in the city)
•    Icey Slicey
•    Gritzilla

“We were delighted to welcome Kier and West Northants Council into school for this project. The children and staff have been excited to share their ideas and suggestions and we are looking forward to seeing our winning names on the gritters next season.”Katie Marks, Deputy Head Teacher at St Luke’s Primary school

“Our gritters play a key role in keeping the highways across West Northamptonshire safe for road users during the colder months. We’re delighted to be able to work with school pupils across West Northamptonshire to name our fleet of gritters and we look forward to seeing these out across the area next winter.”Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste at West Northamptonshire Council

“We’ve really enjoyed visiting the schools - and providing important road safety messages and insight into the work we do on the roads. It’s been a great way to round off the winter service as we step into spring and begin our surface improvement schemes. We’re looking forward to branding the vehicles with the winning names and creating further opportunities to engage young people in the work we do across the region."John Coombes, general manager at Kier Highways

For more information see West Northamptonshire Highways.

04 May 2023

Residents are invited to take part in the consultation via West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) consultation hub before midnight on Tuesday 30 May, to share their views on proposed changes to the service for children up to the age of 16.

A separate consultation on the Post-16 policy will take place later this year, following the completion of a public transport review which is currently being undertaken.

The review of the service is the first to take place in a decade and seeks to ensure it is delivered in line with other local councils and at a reasonable cost, by tackling challenges including a significant increase in demand from users and rising operating costs caused by high fuel prices and inflation. It also explores opportunities for a more flexible, environmentally friendly service that increases choices for parents and better supports the independence of young people.

Key proposals include: 
1.    Changes to the non-entitled (paid for) scheme including an increase in the cost from £600 to £1,000 per academic year 
2.    Removal of entitlement to linked schools
3.    Provision of transport for rising 8’s
4.    Removal of transport for children under 5 for mainstream pupils only
5.    Removal of travel assistance for year 11 pupils who move home during the academic year
6.    Review of suitable walking route criteria

One of the key changes is the review of the non-entitled (paid for) transport scheme, which currently enables parents to pay for seats on Council-run school bus services for children not eligible for free places. The existing cost of a seat is £600 which has not been reviewed or increased for over 10 years and it is proposed that this will increase to £1,000 from September 2024. This will bring the cost in line with other local authorities and better reflect the actual cost of providing a seat. Other proposed changes to the scheme include only offering seats if spare capacity is available on existing contracted services.

All proposals being put forward would apply from September 2024 and only affect those applying for a bus place from this period and beyond. The consultation does not cover home to school transport policies for students aged 16 and over, which will be reviewed later this year, following a fuller review of all bus services.

Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, said: “We want to make sure that we are providing the best and most cost-effective service for residents and one which is fair and efficient for all who use it.
“To achieve this, it is vital that we listen to and carefully consider the views of parents, carers, and children and young people who may be affected by these proposals so we can ensure the service continues to meet the needs of our community. I strongly encourage everyone to take part in this consultation and get involved.”

The findings of the consultation will be published and presented to WNC’s Cabinet later this year. Feedback will help to inform any decision by the Council on the proposed changes to the home to school transport policy and how transport assistance is delivered.

Residents can take part in the consultation in the following ways:   

Consultation drop-in events have already been held in Northampton, Brackley and Towcester, and two further events are scheduled on 4 May in Towcester, and 10 May in Daventry. Please find the details below:

For more information on Home to School Transport please visit the School travel assistance webpage.