The Children's Trust Joint Committee convened to discuss key issues affecting children's services in North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. Councillor Mark Arnull was appointed as Co-Chair for West Northamptonshire Council. The committee also addressed the Northamptonshire Children's Trust's financial forecast for 2025/26, and approved the Northamptonshire Youth Justice Plan 2025/26.

Northamptonshire Children's Trust 2025/26 Forecast Position and Savings

The committee noted Northamptonshire Children’s Trust’s (NCT) period six reported forecast of a £14.117m overspend, with the pressure on the councils amounting to £19.639m when compared to the original contract sum.

The report [^1] highlighted that the original contract sum for 2025/26 was £185.651m. A change control request of £1.260m was agreed to support changes to national insurance thresholds and a 0.5% pay inflation adjustment, bringing the Trust pay award in line with West Northamptonshire's 3%. However, a further change control request for £4.518m related to joint funding contribution savings and structural demands was not approved by the councils.

The forecast outturn as of 30th September 2025 is £205.290m against an original contract sum of £185.651m resulting in a net pressure to the councils of £19.639m (£14.117m + £5.522m).

The report also noted that the contract sum for 2025/26 included a savings delivery programme of £12.233m, but as of September 2025, only £4.560m (37.3%) of the savings had been delivered and were RAG¹ rated as green. An additional £5.673m (46.4%) were RAG rated as amber, and £2m (16.3%) were RAG rated as red, relating to the Circle to Success programme, which is unlikely to be achieved.

The main pressures on the budget were identified as:

• Staffing: £2.004m overspend
• Placements: £16.120m overspend
• Contracts: £0.256m underspend
• Adoption: £0.525m overspend
• Transport: £0.090m underspend
• Other Care: £1.316m overspend

The committee was informed that if mitigations are not identified, the financial pressure would fall on the councils, with funding split 44.16% for North Northamptonshire Council and 55.84% for West Northamptonshire Council.

Northamptonshire Youth Justice Plan 2025/26

The committee approved the content of the Youth Justice Plan 2025/26 and noted Northamptonshire’s Youth Offending Service priorities for 2025/26 as set out in the plan. The plan was then recommended to both West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire Councils for adoption.

The Northamptonshire Youth Justice Plan is a statutory requirement that provides information regarding the local provision of youth justice services. The previous meeting heard that the 2023 inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation rated the service as 'Good' with the resettlement provision rated as 'Outstanding'.

Corporate Parenting Board Annual Reports 2024-2025

The committee approved the content of the West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council Corporate Parenting Board Annual Reports 2024-2025.

The reports ² provide an overview of the Corporate Parenting Boards’ activities, and note that the Northamptonshire Children's Trust Corporate Parenting Strategy sets out four key priorities, with an update on progress in each area contained in the annual report.

The four key priorities of the NCT Corporate Parenting Strategy 2025-25 are:

• Develop resilience
• Enjoy good health and wellbeing
• Fulfil potential
• Live safe, be safe

The reports detailed the legal and structural framework within which the Corporate Parenting Boards operate, and set out the principles of corporate parenting, the structure and role of the board, NCT's pledge to which the board works in accordance with, and the Care Leavers Covenant³.