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14 April 2025

Over 270 people joined us to mark the opening of the first Family Hub in West Northamptonshire, located at the Forum in Towcester at the end of March. We welcomed parents, carers, children, and young people to see first-hand the support which is available.
The Towcester Family Hub offers services for children, young people, and their parents from pre-birth to 19 years, and up to 25 years for those with additional needs. Families can enjoy a variety of bookable and drop-in sessions. We're excited to have Strong Start join our team, and we're introducing a new youth space for young people to socialise, unwind, and access support.
Following the opening of our first location, we will be starting to launch our consultation this May to engage local residents on the proposed locations for additional Family Hubs across West Northamptonshire. These include hubs in the following proposed areas:
- Daventry
- Northampton Town
- Kingsthorpe
- Upton
- Moulton
- Brackley
- Weston Favell
- Far Cotton
The consultation launched in May will run through into June, and after which these hubs will begin to go live later in 2025 into 2026. A number of these locations seeks to expand services for children and young people within the existing children’s centres. We are committed to expanding services and the local offer to better serve our community.
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Members of the public are being urged to share their views on proposals from Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service that will change the way it measures its response times.
A public consultation has been launched for people to comment on the new standards of response. This is the target response time that the Service sets itself to get firefighters to incidents.
The new response times propose that crews attend dwelling fires where there is a risk to life one minute quicker than the current response time, while taking longer to attend calls for non-life-threatening incidents.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service currently sets itself a single standard of response to attend all incidents within an average of 10 minutes after receiving the first 999 call to its Fire Control room.
The new standards of response have been proposed as the following:
- The Service will attend all primary dwelling fires – fires at residential premises involving a high risk of threat to life – within 9 minutes. This is one minute quicker than the current single response standard.
- Attend all Road Traffic Collisions with a risk to life within 12 minutes.
- Attend all other emergencies – such as fires (other than primary dwelling fires), rescues from height or water, and incidents involving hazardous materials – within 12 minutes.
- We will mobilise to all other calls for service within 60 minutes. These are for non-life-threatening incidents and will not always result in a blue-light response.
Response times depend on several factors, such as where the incident happens, the location of the nearest fire engine, traffic, and weather conditions.
The standards of response are based on risk levels and the resources that we have available across the county – which have been identified for the coming five years in our Community Risk Management Plan for 2025-30.
Other proposed changes include changing the calculation of the average response times to align with other emergency services, and for the clock to stop once the first fire resource reaches the incident – even if this may be a dedicated fire officer or specialist appliance instead of a fire engine.
Chief Fire Officer Nikki Watson said: “It’s important that members of the public share their views on our proposals. We firmly believe they will help contribute to keeping our communities safe.
“This will not impact how long it takes for a fire engine to arrive at an incident. Our crews will continue to reach incidents as quickly and safely as they can.
“Updated standards of response will provide us with a more accurate and reliable picture of our performance and the service that we offer.
“We are proposing to change the way the average response times are calculated to mirror the approach used by our blue light colleagues in police and ambulance. This will only enhance the strong partnership we share with both services.
“Having targets in place that have been shaped by data-led evidence will allow us to benchmark against other Services both regionally and nationally – and will help us to deliver an exceptional fire and rescue service for all our residents.”
The full proposals form part of the six-week public consultation that is running on the draft Community Risk Management Plan.
A link to the draft CRMP document can be accessed here: https://www.northantsfire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NFRSCRMP-DRAFT-APRIL25-V0.5-FINAL.pdf
The consultation period starts on April 9 and finishes on May 21. You can share your views on the proposals by filling in the survey at https://www.research.net/r/VQBKPZ8
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Residents across the county are being asked to share their views on a draft strategy that outlines how Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service will keep communities safe over the next five years.
The strategy – known as the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) – takes a detailed look at what risks are currently present and may emerge between 2025 and 2030.
Based on the evidence that is available, the Service has put forward proposals within the CRMP that outlines how it will align its resources with the risks that have been identified.
Fires now make up only a third of the 999 calls that go to our Control Room. This means the role of a firefighter is becoming more diverse – varying from rescuing casualties in road traffic collisions to disposing hazardous materials safely.
The CRMP outlines the key strategic priorities for the Service over the next five years, and details how prevention, protection and response will be at the core of everything we do.
It also shows how the Service intends to meet emerging climate emergencies such as the increase of localised flooding and wildfires.
The five strategic priorities that the Service has proposed for the next five years are:
- Help people to stay safe from fire and other emergencies
- Improve fire safety in buildings that people live and work in
- Respond immediately and effectively to emergency incidents
- Continue to develop and support our workforce
- Manage and invest in our Service to be agile and fit for the future
Residents are being asked to share their views on these strategic priorities, and how we intend to meet them, in a six-week consultation starting today (April 9) and ending on May 21.
At the same time, members of the public are also being asked about proposed changes in how we measure our response times.
Currently, the Service aims to get to all incidents within 10 minutes. However, we are now proposing different response times depending on the incident type.
This includes attending all dwelling fires where there is a risk to life within nine minutes – one minute quicker than the current response time. The proposed changes can be commented on as part of the CRMP survey.
Chief Fire Officer Nikki Watson is encouraging members of the public to share their thoughts on the proposals within the CRMP and says that any feedback will be acted on and potentially shape the final document.
Nikki said: “Our updated Community Risk Management Plan will underpin everything that we do as a Service over the next five years.
“Our aim is to provide exceptional fire and rescue services for all our residents across the county. To achieve that we need a plan that is based on all the evidence of risk that we have, and this has informed the proposals we have come up with it.
“The work that our firefighters do is more varied than ever before, so it is important for us to reflect that and make sure that we manage our resources appropriately.
“We want to hear from as many residents as possible, and it is important that they are up front and honest about our proposals and whether they meet the needs of our communities across Northamptonshire.”
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone added: “Residents across the county deserve to live and work in buildings and communities that are safe. The Fire Service plays a huge part in achieving this.
“It is important that the new CRMP aligns with my new Safe and Sound public safety plan for Northamptonshire, and I believe it will help to deliver my priorities.
“These are to put prevention at the heart of everything we do; work collaboratively to support our most vulnerable residents; and bring our fire staff out into the community and make them more visible and accessible for our residents.”
The draft CRMP document can be viewed at the following link: https://www.northantsfire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NFRSCRMP-DRAFT-APRIL25-V0.5-FINAL.pdf
Residents can share their views by May 21 by filling in our survey here: https://www.research.net/r/VQBKPZ8
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07 April 2025

Top up your protection against COVID-19 by getting vaccinated this spring if you are eligible.
Those at increased risk from severe illness can get the vaccine, including those aged 75 or over (on 17 June 2025), people with a weakened immune system, or who live in an older adult care home. Those eligible will be able book an appointment until 17 June 2025.
If eligible, you do not need to wait for an invitation to book your vaccine. To book, please visit the NHS App, the NHS website or call 119 for free. You may also be able to visit a walk-in site which does not require a booking or you can find out about local opportunities on the Integrated Care Northamptonshire website and select the ‘where can I get a vaccine’ tab.
If you or family members are eligible, make sure you get any extra protection you need this spring. Get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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A planning application will be submitted for a new fire station in Kettering.
This will be a new building that will be located on the Cherry Hall Road site adjacent to the Northern Accommodation Building.
Traffic and parking issues can make entry to and exit from the current fire station in the Headlands difficult. The new fire station will have good access to major routes and will be built to meet modern working and welfare standards.
A planning application will be submitted for the new fire station soon. It comes just a few weeks after a planning application was also submitted for a new fire station at Moulton.
The announcement formed part of an update on estates from Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone.
The announcement also outlined how the search is on for a suitable site to be a new police base in the centre of Corby, while Kettering will also have a new town centre base for police. There is also a firm commitment to retain a police base in the eastern district of Northampton at Weston Favell.
Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone said: “I’m really pleased to give firm commitments that will make Northamptonshire Police officers more accessible in the towns they serve, and to provide a great, new facility in Kettering for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
“I know how much it means to people to have a reassuring presence in the heart of their community to deter and prevent crime and keep our streets safe. I pledged to make closer connections between communities and their police and fire service – this is another step forward.”
The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner owns the fire and police estate, and the Chief Fire Officer and Chief Constable decide how buildings will be used to meet operational needs.
The developments announced today are being prioritised. Work to find new sites is well underway and more details and timescale will be announced as details emerge.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Phil Pells said: “A new fire station for Kettering will provide a modern and fit for purpose working environment for our staff. The proposed new site is in a great location that is both accessible to the public we serve and well located for our operational needs.”