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Businesses who flout fire safety laws and needlessly put peoples’ lives in danger will be pursued to the full extent of the law – in a stark warning from Fire Protection Officers in Northamptonshire.
Taking businesses to court is a rare occurrence for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, but the Protection Team within the Service has been forced to head down the legal route twice within the last five months – the first time in a number of years that such action has been required.
In December, the owners of a business pleaded guilty to offences under the Fire Safety Order at Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court.
Back in August 2022, a serious fire occurred in the lower ground of a block of flats in Northampton that belonged to the company. A fire door at the premises did not have a self-closing device fitted, which meant that smoke entered the staircase and hindered escape routes. Firefighters ended up having to enter the premises and rescue a resident from the staircase who was trying to escape.
“Given the circumstances in this fire we decided to gather further details,” explains John Pratt, a Protection Team Leader at Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
“Our subsequent investigation found that the premises’ fire risk assessment in June 2021 had identified that the self-closing device – which is designed to close fire doors and stop the blaze from spreading – had not been fitted properly and needed to be rectified as a matter of urgency.
“The fire obviously happened more than a year later, so the basis of our case was that they had failed to provide sufficient means of escape and had failed to rectify the deficiencies identified in the 2021 report.”
This followed a successful case where a takeaway restaurant in Northampton had pleaded guilty in November at Northampton Magistrates’ Court for breaching a fire prohibition notice that had been served on it.
Fire Protection Officers had found that storerooms in the basement had been converted into bedrooms, compromising fire safety. After prohibiting them from letting staff sleep on the premises, a follow-up inspection a day later in February 2023 found the notice had already been breached.
John Pratt added: “We don’t go down this route very often, these two cases were the first in a number of years as generally most buildings are broadly compliant with fire safety regulations. The strength of the cases we built meant both defendants pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
“When we look at whether to prosecute, we have to identify that it’s in the public interest to do so and that there has been an immediate risk to life.
“The threshold for this action is particularly high, but due to these cases including a breach of a formal notice and a person being placed at a serious risk during a fire, the decision for our senior leaders to pursue a prosecution was clear.
“If there’s a risk to life it’s usually a simple decision for us. It’s our role and duty to create a safe environment for the people of Northamptonshire, so when we do come across flaws and deficiencies, we take decisive action.
“Primarily though, we want to help support businesses and organisations to maintain and improve the safety of their premises for their staff, visitors and customers.”
Businesses can contact the Protection Team at Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service for specialist advice, and to receive a bespoke safety approach by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
There is also a suite of safety tips and advice for businesses and responsible persons at www.northantsfire.gov.uk/information-for-business-owners/
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04 March 2024
The Inspirational Women’s Award judges have shortlisted 8 women for the two categories, Community and Business. This year there was over 80 nominations submitted.
The winners will be announced at the International Women’s Day event taking place at the Northampton Guildhall on Saturday 9 March between 11am and 3pm.
Organised by the Women’s Forum at West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) the awards publicly recognise and promote women who inspire, impacting the lives of others in their community or workplace.
Community award shortlist
Anne Thompson
Anne is a dedicated member of the Deanshanger community, serving as a Parish Councillor and a founding member of the Good Neighbours scheme. The creation of the scheme has brought the village together, providing essential support for those in the community. Anne plays a key role in coordinating community events including, Easter trails, Christmas Lights Switch-on and community volunteering to mark the King’s Coronation.
Jane Capps
Jane is one of the founders of Off The Streets NN which is dedicated to tackling knife crime in Northamptonshire. She has helped organise free bleed control training to local residents and companies which so far has been attended by over 600 people. Alongside her team members Jane has been responsible for the installation of over 200 bleed control kits and cabinets across the county.
Miranda Wixon
Miranda is involved with several charities both nationally and across Northamptonshire. She is a one of the founders of the Community Larder network in Northamptonshire providing food to over 2,500 people each week. She is currently the Chair of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprises Assembly, a board member of the Integrated Care System Northamptonshire and a Trustee of Northamptonshire ACRE. Miranda is working in partnership with the Hope Centre to expand the Community Larder Network.
Sally Jones
Sally is the Chair of Trustees for Northamptonshire Carers, a charity which provides support, advice, services and assessments for thousands of carers across the county. Her knowledge, commitment and skills have been supported the organisations’ growth. She is the secretary for Ecton Village Hall and a volunteer for Ecton Golden Oldies which arranges trips, lunches and get togethers for people over 65 in the village. She has been described as a wonderful role model and an inspiration to others.
Business award shortlist
Anabela Yourell
Anabela, ‘Bela,’ is the owner of Fitter Body Ladies a gym designed to create a safe happy place for women over 30 to exercise. Bela has created a supportive community that enables women to exercise without judgement where they feel encouraged and motivated to achieve their goals. Through her work she has given countless women the confidence and strength to become physically and mentally stronger. She has been described as an inspiration to many people who genuinely cares about the success of others.
Rebecca Gill
Rebecca is the founder of Virtual Reality Therapies a social enterprise dedicated to improving people’s mental health, wellbeing and rehabilitation. Through VR she has created a space where people are able to explore the unthinkable from becoming a mermaid to becoming a wildlife experience guide. Rebecca has worked with a local SEND school to support the transitions and transport access for autistic students. Through these workshops students were able to learn about the triggers of going on transport and safely explore the environment building their self-confidence.
Dawn Wright
Dawn is the Voluntary Services Manager at St Andrew’s Healthcare which provides speciality mental healthcare and aims to inspire home for those with complex mental health needs. Since she started over 150 volunteers have joined the service supporting patients across three mental health hospitals and community partnerships. She was formerly CEO for The Lowdown, a charity which supports young people’s mental health. Dawn understands the needs of volunteers and takes every opportunity to celebrate their hard work.
Joyce Martin
Joyce is the first Black woman to open a Black professional Hair Care and Beauty Salon in Northampton in 1982, and the first specialist Afro Black Hair Care and Beauty lecturer at Northampton College of Further Education. When she started out there were no other options for Black women to come together she created a space where people could receive specialist haircare and spend time with other women in the community. Joyce is described as a pioneer who’s work has benefited the community for generations.
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05 March 2024
West Northamptonshire Council has today welcomed the start of an Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection into local services for children with special needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
The inspection process starts this week and will run until 22 March, with Ofsted and CQC looking at the full range of SEND services for children and young people across West Northamptonshire. This will not only involve them spending their time with children and their families, but also speaking with colleagues from across the local SEND partnership, including WNC, our Children's Trust and partners such as schools and health care providers.
The inspection is set against a national backdrop of increased demand for SEND services being experienced by local authorities across the country, including West Northamptonshire. It also comes less than a year after the publication of the Partnership’s three-year strategy to improve SEND services, co-produced with local families and partners in September 2023. Although it is still early days in the Partnesrhip’s improvement journey for SEND, work is progressing against the six key priorities within the strategy.
Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills at WNC said:
“We welcome this inspection as an opportunity for Ofsted and CQC to see the strong foundations we have been laying to improve outcomes for youngsters several months on from the launch of our new three-year SEND strategy co-produced with local families and partners. But we also know that this inspection comes in the very early days of our improvement journey, where many families will not yet be able to feel the impact of the gradual progress we’re making.
“We know we still have a long way to go to address our SEND challenges and fully expect this inspection to reaffirm that, but we also hope it will recognise the early and firm steps we’ve been taking towards improving outcomes for families.”
Actions already being taken against the six priorities set out for our first year of delivering the strategy include:
- Launching a new effective co-produced Local Offer: the online directory was launched in January 2024 to help families find the right service, support group or activity as easily as possible. Developed with partners, young people and their families, the Local Offer website is a user-friendly online platform that brings together a range of information about the SEND services available locally, including youth clubs, early years support, social care and transport, as well as health services and much more, helping people to find exactly what they are looking for.
- Opening 75 new places for children and young people with SEND: We continue to meet our overarching aim of 600 news places by September 2025 providing children and young people with the right environments to meet their needs. Plans are also progressing well to open a new special school in the South of the county which will create a further 250 places.
- Commissioning a new Educational Psychology service to clear the backlog of cases: the Council is appointing a team of educational psychologists, with the aim of seeing a reduction in the backlog of those waiting to receive an educational psychology assessment by the end 2024.
- Focusing on improving learning and development , including publishing a centralised training offer and developing and promoting a programme of supported Internships, Traineeships and Apprenticeships: in February the first ‘Business Brunch’ was held, bringing together local employers to start the conversation around employment opportunities for young people with SEND and how together, improvement can be made on current employment figures in West Northants. This work continues to be core workstream to implement and support development in this area.
The result of the inspection is due to be published by Ofsted and CQC later this spring.
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05 March 2024
Residents will have no break in service as the 59/60 bus service will be operated by Stagecoach from 11 March.
In February, West Northamptonshire Council was made aware that Uno would no longer operate the route after 10 March.
The Council has worked closely with operators to ensure there is no break in this service, with Stagecoach now contracted to run this route, connecting Guilsborough, Welford and Market Harborough.
We are delighted that Stagecoach will be operating the 59 / 60 bus service from 11 March. This service provides essential connectivity for residents, shoppers and local students, and it is great news that there will be a smooth continuation and no gap in buses running. We look forward to continuing to work with Stagecoach.Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste at West Northamptonshire Council
We are excited to be running these new routes on behalf of West Northamptonshire Council. These additional services further expand the Stagecoach bus network, connecting us to new areas and communities within Northamptonshire. We look forward to welcoming passengers onboard.Mark Whitelocks, Managing Director Stagecoach Midlands
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04 March 2024
Visitors to Northampton Town Centre can now access the revitalised paving at Market Square as the section connecting Abington Street to the Grosvenor Centre opened on Monday, 4 March.
The cobbles used as part of the transformation of Northampton’s historic market square have been retained from the previous paving where possible, and sympathetically restored to reuse as part of the regenerated space.
Councillor Daniel Lister, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth at West Northamptonshire Council said:
“Visitors to Northampton Town Centre can now access the Grosvenor Centre from Abington Street alongside Market Walk as this section of completed paving at Market Square opens, which will help to provide increased connectivity to this part of the town.
“We are delighted that the existing cobbles have been restored and retained as part of the regeneration works, which provide a nod to the square’s history. Working closely with our partners Stepnell, it is great to see the project progress and reach important milestones such as this.”
Further progress has been made in February as the light columns for the site were installed and four of the permanent market stalls arrived and have been fitted. The remainder of the bespoke market stalls are due to arrive this month, which will be complemented by the semi-mature trees which will be planted.
The design, cladding and colours of the stalls compliment the surrounding rich heritage of Northampton’s Market Square. These stalls are a bespoke design with unique features, designed specifically for the needs of the Northampton Market traders. They are made of heavy-duty steel frames with robust cladding, which provides a sustainable and robust product.
To stay up to date with regeneration across Northampton visit www.wearenorthampton.com
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