13 March 2025

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) will be turning four years old on 1 April 2025, with bold plans to build upon its strong track record of improving outcomes for communities in the years ahead.

The unitary authority, which replaced the previous district, borough and county councils in April 2021, has been making solid progress against its priorities since it was formed as a fresh start for delivering better public services across West Northamptonshire.

The Council enters its fifth year building upon its ‘strong, positive start’ highlighted by the LGA’s recent independent review and with a new compelling long-term plan to work together more strategically with partners as One West Northamptonshire to help communities flourish and businesses prosper. 

Summary of highlights

During its first four years, WNC has charted a broad range of service improvements, projects and activities resulting in better outcomes for local communities. A summary of the many highlights can be found below.

Further information about the Council’s performance during 2024/25 will be available in the Council’s annual report, to be published in June 2025. You can view previous annual reports here

Portfolio for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration & Growth, Culture & Leisure

• We set an ambitious strategy to grow the local economy inclusively and sustainably with a focus on increasing productivity and skills
• We have driven economic growth, turning £45 million of grants for regeneration in Northampton into £350 million of private investment and making progress on major town centre regeneration schemes including the landmark Greyfriars regeneration
• We completed the multi-million-pound transformation of Northampton Market Square
• We have distributed millions of pounds of national UKSPF funding on initiatives to improve life chances, increase skills, create stronger communities and support local businesses
• We laid the foundations for further redevelopment of our other towns, including the new Sponne Arcade Car Park in Towcester and initial work on a new Masterplan for Daventry town centre
• We have supported all our professional sports clubs. The East Stand is nearing completion at Sixfields, we have helped the Saints develop a masterplan for Franklin's Gardens and we are in negotiations with the cricket club for a new academy in Moulton
• A joint bid for a Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) for Northamptonshire has been approved by VisitEngland
• We have supported initiatives including the Female Founders Summit, which is returning to Northampton in 2025, while attracting the Small Business Saturday UK national roadshow has raised the Council’s profile
• We launched a new Employability Hub at Weston Favell, helping people find jobs and volunteer opportunities
• We continued our support for businesses and start-ups, offering funding, advice and guidance.

Leader of the Council portfolio

• We are putting West Northants on the map as the beating heart of the country. The Council’s LGA peer review independently highlighted the strong start we have made since our launch in 2021 – a period in which we worked to transform and improve, saving millions of pounds of public money and bringing millions of pounds of investment to benefit our communities
• We have built our profile as a centre of sporting excellence through our successful bids for major sporting events including the Men’s Tour of Britain and the Women’s Rugby World Cup, celebrating the Saints' Premiership win with a victory parade and enabling the development of sporting academies
• The West Northants’ stage of the Men’s Tour of Britain delivered the highest economic benefit of the entire Tour, with an impressive total impact of £5.69 million, driven by £3.6 million in attendee spending. Over 85% of attendees expressed pride in their local area following the event, with 83% recognising the positive boost to the economy. Attendees from across the UK flocked to enjoy the race, with visitors spending an average of 2.4 nights in the area, further boosting the local hospitality sector. The stage also garnered significant media coverage, valued at £635,698, and promoting West Northamptonshire to national and international audiences
• We have developed communications channels and activities, directly posting updates across our social platforms, reaching over 1 million people every month and seeing our followers rise by 20%
• We have increased our visual content to engage new audiences, launching regular e-newsletters, attracting over 38,996 online subscribers and delivering a twice-yearly printed magazine to all households, which is helping engage our harder-to-reach audiences. We worked hard this year to involve more local people in our consultation and engagement activities, leading to a 133% increase in public participation.

Highways portfolio

• We invested an additional £10 million into improving the road networks and 97% reported highways defects were repaired on target. We continue to encourage all residents to report issues via our website, WNC app or through customer services
• We have invested in new technology to complete 14,657m² of highway repairs. The equipment reduces the carbon footprint by an impressive 85% compared to traditional methods. The process recycles end-of-life waste tyres which would otherwise be destined for incineration
• The JCB Pothole Pro machine repaired 30,480m2 of roads during 2024. This innovative piece of technology carries out road repairs four times faster than standard methods. Teams can cut the defect, crop the edges and clean the area with one machine
• We are in the final stages of completion of the Sandy Lane Relief Road that will ease congestion and improve connectivity for residents when it opens in early spring, much earlier than planned. This follows the northern part of the road opening to motorists in the summer of last year and forms part of the Council’s wider investment into road infrastructure across the area
• Once the Towcester bypass is open we have secured significant improvements for the High Street which will include a ban on HGVs, improved paving and parking, and more landscaping
• We have worked with Stagecoach to secure a £9.4m Government grant to bring a fleet of electric buses to West Northants by late 2026
• We have opened up new Active Travel routes to encourage walking, wheeling, and cycling, including a new 1.3km accessible path through Delapré Park to link Far Cotton with Brackmills
• We joined with partners to offer new and improved bus services across West Northamptonshire, increasing services in our rural areas, for example between Buckingham and Brackley, which will also provide services to Evenley. This service launched on 25 February. We aim to deliver further public transport improvements to the Brackley area later in the year
• We recently completed a further study with Northampton General Hospital and St Andrews Hospital. We hope this will be a catalyst for service improvements and increased bus patronage which the study indicated there was significant potential for. We are about to start similar studies in the areas served by bus services 33 (Northampton to Milton Keynes) and 41 (Northampton to Bedford). This will guide efforts to better meet bus user needs and grow bus use.

Environment, Recycling and Waste Portfolio

• From 1 April, residents will be able to take their waste to recycling centres across West Northants seven days a week, offering a better service and value for money
• We have increased recycling with our new contract reducing the amount of our waste which goes to land fill
• We delivered efficient waste services and street cleansing to all residents, collecting more than 84 million bins over the past four years and clearing over 14,487 fly tips
• In excess of £700k of funding has been invested to support West Northamptonshire business to decarbonise through the Towards a Net Zero West Northants and NGAGE projects
• Through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, we have invested £7,074,540 to upgrade the heating of the four rural leisure centres to air source heat pumps and solar panels
• WNC has committed £1.2m for the feasibility assessment of a large-scale solar project to deliver on our net zero commitments
• WNC have been successful in bidding for £2.6m of funding to support our residents with home energy efficiency improvements through the Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme
• We have agreed a climate change strategy outlining our approach to reducing locally produced greenhouse gases, improving air quality and placing people at the heart of the climate emergency response
• We have worked with neighbouring authorities to launch a new campaign tackling littering on the A5 and other major routes
• We have retained international Green Flag Award status for a number of our parks and open spaces
• We have seen significant improvements year-on-year in regard to air quality.
• We have supported our communities with the emergency response to flooding incidents and committed to working with partners to review flood defences and improve community resilience. We currently have 11 active investigations across West Northants following the November floods. This includes details surveys, cleaning of culverts, coordination with water authorities, land owners and council and to develop mitigation strategies working with residents and parish councils.

Adult Social Care and Public Health and Regulatory Services Portfolio

• We have provided essential support to families and individuals struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, with a specific focus on helping with the cost of food, free school meals, utility bills, and other vital household expenses. West Northamptonshire is expected to distribute £3.66 million in Household Support funding for the 12-month period and has committed to ensuring the funds help as many people as possible
• There are 112 welcoming spaces across West Northamptonshire, which are delivered through collaborative working with parish and town councils and partners in the voluntary and community sector to create a network
• In West Northamptonshire our vision and aspirations for Adult Social Care are aligned to the ‘Live Your Best Life Strategy’ which was developed in partnership with our Integrated Care System partners and launched in early 2023
• We have improved our hospital discharge rate to the highest levels on record getting more residents home sooner with the right support
• Our three-year plan for locality based prevention work that brings together our three conversations model in Adult Social Care, with social prescribing and GP-based wellbeing interventions that are commissioned by Public Health. This approach will provide significantly increased reach to enable proactive preventative interventions that reduce crisis and reliance on services
• Ratings in our care homes are improving due to our monitoring approach, which has seen the number of inadequate providers reduced to just a single organisation due to our investment in our quality improvement programme and robust governance arrangements
• We have developed a buoyant home care market that has meant a reduction in delayed transfers of care alongside a reduction in the number of 18–65-year-olds needing to go into residential care
• Developments are underway to progress proposals for a new Health and Wellbeing Surgery in Moulton. This new facility would enable the expansion of the established GP practice into larger premises, along with additional supporting medical services, to cater to the growing needs of the local community. We held a vape summit with partners in advance of government changes which will assist all partners in responding to this significant threat to children in particular
• Introducing new powers to promote responsible pet ownership and ban smoking in children’s play areas, launching new charters setting out our approach to tackling litter and fly-tipping in our streets and green open spaces, and protecting the public from harm through the ongoing efforts of both our Food Safety and Trading Standards teams
• Worked to protect the public thanks to our Food Safety and Trading Standards teams, and continued to tackle fly-tipping, littering and other environmental crimes
• Developed and established new Local Area Partnerships (LAPs) across West Northants, listening to and engaging with residents at grassroots level to understand health and care needs to help them live their best lives

Children, Families & Education portfolio

• Ofsted have reported a good judgement for Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Adoption Agency and recognised outstanding leadership and management
• Ofsted rated our Independent Fostering Agency as good in January 2024
• Ofsted have rated our youth justice service as good with outstanding features in October 2023
• Our children’s services have improved to requires improvement and there are 241 (17%) less children in care than the 2020 forecast projected
• We are investing over £20 million in property to provide more in house facilities to support our children and young people
• 2.7% 16-18 year olds not in education, employment and training, which is below the national average.
• 99.6% referrals to children’s social care receive an outcome within 2 working days
• Work has officially begun on the construction of Overstone Park Primary School, a state-of-the-art, non-selective, state-funded primary school at the Overstone Leys development in north-east Northampton.
• The Council continues to make progress against its action plan to address ongoing challenge of increasing SEND placements to help ensure better outcomes for families across West Northamptonshire. Positive progress has been noted in our Ofsted monitoring visits and complaints have reduced by a third.
  • November 2022: the opening of 20 places at Hunsbury Park primary school as part a new autism spectrum disorder (ASD) unit for children in foundation stage, early years and key stage 1.
  • January 2023: 10 places created at Hardingstone Academy for pupils in key stage 2 with autism spectrum disorder. This department is for children who need mainstream curriculum and provides that access to this provision as and when they are ready.
  • February 2023: 10 places provided at Castle Academy for pupils in key stage 1 and foundation / early year pupils.
  • Chiltern Primary School located in Northampton, opened its doors to its 30 place SEND unit called The Nest on 2 October 2023. A further 15 Key Stage 2 places were created from September 2024, taking the total number of places at this site to 45. The Nest caters for children in Key Stage 2, Years 3 to 6 and is a designated specialist provision for children with an Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) diagnosis. The NEST has specialist learning facilities with new classrooms offering breakout spaces, new signage to offer privacy to the playground as well as the new, engaging play area that is available for use by all pupils at Chiltern Primary School.
  • We have made significant progress on a new specialist school in Tiffield near Towcester for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND)
• We launched our Family Hubs initiative to provide a one-stop-shop for families in need of support with the first hub opening in Towcester on 31 March followed by further hubs in Daventry and Northampton town centre.

HR and Corporate Services portfolio

• We have extended our customer satisfaction survey to all service areas and our latest data shows over 71% customers have a positive experience of our services
• We have relaunched our website with over 3 million views per year and  95% of customers rating our online information and services helpful
• We have invested in innovation, using artificial intelligence to drive improvements in services from homelessness to special educational needs
• We completed a full division restructure and contract rationalisation programme in DTI, delivering almost £1 million of savings to support the overall corporate position, but adding in much-needed missing skills and a more streamlined structure
• We have rolled out a single Customer Records Management system across all teams, and implemented a new telephony solution unifying the infrastructure in our contact centres and enhancing the available functionality
• We have delivered almost 30 outreach surgeries, with some of them becoming more and more popular and well-attended, and others being ceased either due to low demand or a transition to a different offer
• 88% resident complaints are resolved at the first stage and complaints during the last quarter have fallen across all service areas
• We have invested in our permanent colleagues, reducing our spend on agency staff by over £6 million since day 1 with agency staff at lowest levels across all services.

Finance portfolio

• To date WNC has delivered over £115 million of savings, transforming the services we inherited – this has involved bringing together over 3,000 staff and hundreds of services from the four former councils, over 800 systems, four main office buildings and thousands of inherited contracts
• We have kept our budgets balanced, enhancing productivity and protecting essential frontline services in the face of continuous financial challenges, rising service demands and inflationary pressures affecting all councils nationally
• Our reserves currently stand at £96 million. When we landed in unitary, our opening balance was £171 million, however around £70 million of this opening balance related to ringfenced Covid monies, business rate reimbursement income and a high balance of public health reserves. These balances do not represent the financial health of an authority, are ringfenced, and were expected to be spent.
• We have benchmarked our General Reserve balance of £35 million with our nearest statistical neighbours which demonstrates that the balance being held is above average and prudent.

Housing portfolio

• Announced plans to invest over £9.5 million on building new homes to tackle pressures on the local housing market
• We secured £3.2 million in Single Homeless Accommodation Programme funds to acquire and remodel an affordable housing scheme as a specialist supported housing facility for people with complex needs who are at risk of homelessness/rough sleeping, and revenue funding to fund a high need support service for three years.
• We have allocated more than £12.3 million to provide relocatable temporary accommodation for those experiencing homelessness
• We have developed a pipeline of new housing sites at the bus depot in St James and land at Dallington which will provide 200 affordable homes.
• We worked with our partners and people experiencing homelessness in West Northants to launch the innovative streets of change project, learning from experiences of homelessness and support prevention and recovery.
• We developed the West Northants Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy, adopted by Cabinet in March 2024.
• We have implemented a new governance framework between the council and Northamptonshire Partnership Homes – the council’s arms-length management organisation responsible for managing council housing stock – and continue to strengthen working arrangements across the two organisations.

Planning and Community Safety & Engagement Portfolio

• Involving and engaging communities across West Northamptonshire to help shape our new Local Plan, which will guide how our area is developed over the next 15 years
• Working with parish councils on producing new Neighbourhood Development Plans and Conservation Area Appraisals to help further protect and enhance our area
• We have transformed our planning service, with over 90% of major and minor applications now delivered on target
• Distributing around £5.6m in community grants funding for hundreds of projects, from helping local clubs and groups to improve their facilities to initiatives tackling young violence and knife crime
• We have also held over 170 community events and weeks of action with partners promoting the culture and diversity of our area, from Coronation celebrations, Pride and Diwali to Black History Month, Inspirational Women’s and Men’s Awards and International day of People with Disabilities
• We have achieved Gold Status in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and are proud of our work to support the armed forces community as Armed Forces Covenant Signatories
• We are making a significant investment in Kings Heath, Northampton, to support community-led improvements and enhance local facilities. Through the Kings Heath Partnership Group, which includes local schools, charities, sports organisations, and Northamptonshire Police, a range of initiatives are underway to create lasting benefits for residents. During the past year alone there has been £140,000 of investment into a range of interventions including work to bring the former Sure Start Centre back into use, community cohesion events, dedicated staff to support community work and grants for charities providing programmes there
• Working with our residents who opened their homes to nearly 1,000 people fleeing the war in Ukraine, while assisting more than 500 Afghan nationals escaping conflict and persecution through providing emergency accommodation as well as support to help them settle in the UK.

13 March 2025

As part of efforts to drive an increasingly environmentally friendly vehicle fleet, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is hosting a Vehicle Supplier Day to help shape its Fleet Climate Strategy.

The event will take place on Wednesday 26 March from 10am to 4pm in Northampton’s Market Square with WNC employees, partners, local residents and businesses invited to go along to find out more.

With a number of fleet hire companies, exhibitors and the MG Motor Group attending the event, it’s an opportunity for those who either use, or are responsible for Council operated vehicles to meet with specialists and discuss their future requirements and understand their impact on our environment.

The development of the Fleet Climate Strategy will support the Council’s aims to improve air quality and create a greener environment for residents to live, work, visit and thrive in.

“We are conscious of the impact the vehicles we use to deliver our services has on air quality and the local environment. This event will help us research and better understand the future of vehicle fleets and help us to achieve our goal of being a net zero authority by 2030.

“Our vehicle fleet play a crucial role in helping us to deliver many of our services and we’re keen to take action to ensure we’re doing this in the best way possible, with a focus on reducing emissions and creating environmentally-friendly travel.”

Cllr Rebecca Breese, Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Waste

“We use a variety of vehicles, ranging from refuse collection lorries, coaches, mini buses, vans, MPVs and cars, and each one is crucial to our ability to deliver the services our communities need.

“The event is an opportunity for us to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the range of more environmentally-friendly vehicles options available and I would encourage officers, partners, local businesses and residents to attend to find out more.”

Cllr Malcolm Longley, Cabinet Member for Finance

13 March 2025

Families across West Northamptonshire are invited to visit the first one stop shop for family support as the hub opens at the forum in Towcester on Saturday, 29 March.

West Northamptonshire Council is holding a ‘come and see’ event between 10am and 3pm giving residents the opportunity to meet the team and the partners that will be delivering services at the new location. There will be activities for all ages, allowing families to get a taste of what the Hub offers. 

Towcester Family Hub will be offering a programme and timetable of activities from Monday 31 March.

Family Hubs provide a place to go for face-to-face support, making it easier for families to access information, advice and guidance they may need at various times throughout their child’s life. As well as a hub, Family hubs have an online offer where families can access a range of resources.

Children, young people and their parents can access the hub from pre-birth to 19 years and up to 25 if they have additional needs. 

Towcester Family Hub will offer a range of bookable and drop-in sessions for families. Strong Start, a well-established early years provision will be joining the Family Hubs team, and a new youth space will offer young people a place to socialise, unwind and access support. 

Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education at West Northamptonshire Council, said: "We are thrilled to open the doors of the Towcester Family Hub, our first one-stop shop for family support in West Northamptonshire. This hub represents our commitment to providing accessible, comprehensive services to families in our community. We invite everyone to join us on 29 March to explore the wide range of activities and resources available. Our goal is to create a welcoming space where children, young people, and their parents can find the support they need at every stage of their lives. We look forward to seeing you there and working together to build a stronger, more connected community."

Please look out as there will be other Family hubs opening in Northampton and Daventry as well as s number of spoke sites across West Northamptonshire. 

 For more information, please email [email protected] 

Follow the Family Hubs team on Instagram and Facebook for updates. 

13 March 2025

Innovative office hub Vulcan Works is celebrating two years of supporting businesses in West Northamptonshire.

The purpose-built serviced workspace, which is in the heart of the Northampton’s Cultural Quarter, has firmly established itself as a vital part of the local community and economy, and is renowned for its dedicated business support for customers including grant and tender opportunities, networking and topical masterclasses.

Vulcan Works drives growth in the local economy by boosting the West Northamptonshire eco system for businesses, by creating a collaborative and inclusive community, supporting and signposting business owners with a network of industry experts and mentors as well as growth programmes, events and workshops, and investors and funding streams.

Since it launched in April 2023, the hub has supported hundreds of local businesses. In the last year alone, 43 local companies have called Vulcan Works home, including 14 new customers. These businesses range from creative industries such as architects, artists, and graphic designers to cutting edge technology including artificial intelligence and cyber security.  The small units have provided a flexible option for new businesses to be created, and have facilitated their expansion and growth.

In 24 months, more than 200 entrepreneurs have used the space for coworking, and the venue has hosted more than 100 business events annually, both internally and through organised groups such as The Marketing Meetup, Entrepreneurs Circle, Digital Northants, Coworking Club and NN1 Dev Club.

A total of 486 meetings have also been held in the dedicated meeting rooms.

Vulcan Works, which has been recognised with prestigious awards for its innovation and positive impact across the county, also offers access to a trio of specialists onsite – the centre’s own business growth manager Darren Smith, Barclays Eagle Labs’ Eco System Manager, Owen Moran, and experts from South East Midlands Growth Hub.

Every customer who moves into Vulcan Works is offered 1-2-1 business support with Darren. So far, 145 internal customers have engaged with Darren, whether that be to discuss grant applications or ask his opinion on contracts. Darren has also established 64 new stakeholder relationships in 2024/25, adding to the 189 stakeholders engaged with in the centre’s inaugural year.

Vulcan Works has delivered 12 business support clinics in the last 12 months, with external experts talking about a wide range of topical issues including finance, sustainability, IP, HR and accounting.

In November, the Vulcan Creatives incubation initiative welcomed its second cohort of 10 entrepreneurs. The six-month program run Darren and funded by West Northamptonshire Council utilising £40,000 of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), supports ambitious local people hoping to kick start a new business or grow an existing idea with specialist support.

Vulcan Creatives has already supported 21 entrepreneurs to become enterprise-ready and plans to contribute to the creation of at least 75 new start businesses by 2028. The incubator programme also aligns with Vulcan Works’ objectives of retaining local talent in Northamptonshire.

Cllr Daniel Lister, Cabinet Member for Local Economy, Culture and Leisure at WNC, added: “It is great to see the tangible impact that Vulcan Works has had on our county in the short time that it has been open.

“We have seen numerous businesses thrive under the centre’s roof, as they choose this innovative community as a base in West Northamptonshire. No doubt there will be plenty more success stories to come from inside as the community grows and flourishes, especially with the continuation of the Vulcan Creatives incubation programme and the calibre of the support on offer.”

Vulcan Works centre manager Garrick Hurter said: “We are immensely proud of what has been built so far here at Vulcan Works and the contribution we have made to support our customers in their growth. I am in the wonderful position to be able to see, daily, the difference that our centre makes, not just to the local economy but to aspiring entrepreneurs who simply need a little guidance in their quest for success.

“I would like to thank the whole Vulcan Works team for their dedication and hard work and also our stakeholders and customers for trusting and believing in us. Together we have created something very special in Northamptonshire.”

To find out more about Vulcan Works or request a show around, email [email protected].