About the Children's Trust

What we do

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust works holistically with Northamptonshire County Council and other key partner organisations to ensure that children’s services across Northamptonshire are delivered by a qualified and experienced workforce to deliver the best outcomes for children, young people and our community.

We provide a range of services for children and their families, including:

  • Early Help – early help services provide targeted support to children, young people and families at the earliest point of identified need
  • Social Care – social care services provide support to children in need of help and protection​

Find out more about the Trust

In 2019 Northamptonshire County Council children’s social care services were placed under a “Direction” by the Department for Education for the Council to work with the Secretary of State for Education and/or the Children’s Services Commissioner towards the establishment of a council wholly-owned Children’s Trust.

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was established on the 1st November 2020 to deliver children’s social care services on behalf of the Council.

We are a company with a strong ambition to improve the lives of children and their families, with a focus on ensuring a positive impact on those children most in need of protection and care. The voice and experience of the child have been an integral element throughout the creation, set up and delivery of the Trust.

Working with key partners within local communities, we aspire to deliver outstanding social care services for children and young people in the county, ensuring families receive early help to prevent difficulties escalating, and creating the conditions for social work to flourish.

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust is owned by North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council, but managed by an independent board of Executive and Non-Executive Directors, to ensure operational independence.

We aim to create an environment that enables and supports staff to be innovative and creative.  Our ambition is to become a centre of social work excellence where outcomes for improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people are achieved.

​Being an operationally independent Children’s Trust brings an exciting opportunity to take children’s social care services on a journey into a new organisation which puts children and young people at the core of all we do, and which its staff are proud to work for.

The Trust aims at becoming a centre of social work excellence, where best-practice can flourish and outcomes for improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people are consistently achieved.

Our success will be measured by whether we are making a positive difference to the lives of our staff, children, young people and the community we serve, supporting them to feel optimistic and confident about their futures.

The Trust will aim to develop and deliver high quality social care services to children and young people in the county of Northamptonshire within the resources made available to the Trust by the Council.

In conjunction with partner agencies, the Council and the Trust shall work together collaboratively to secure the following outcomes:

  • To promote the welfare and safeguard children in line with key children’s legislation and statutory guidance
  • To provide family support to vulnerable children and their families to enable them to cope with difficulties
  • To support children to live safely with their immediate and extended families wherever possible
  • To meet the needs of looked after children and those leaving care
  • To support disabled children and their families

Our Trust board is responsible for:

  • Setting the strategic aims of the Trust
  • Overseeing the management of the Trust
  • Holding the executive team to account

It is the responsible body for the performance of the Trust in terms of delivering its legal and contractual obligations and achieving outcomes for children and young people in Northamptonshire.

The Trust board contains a wide portfolio of expertise and knowledge in children’s services, commercial, financial and other disciplines.

The board comprises of:

  • Chair
  • Chief Executive of the Trust
  • 4 Independent Non-Executive Directors
  • 4 Council Directors nominated by the Council/Unitary Authorities
  • Up to 3 additional Executive Directors appointed by the Board

Our partners include:

  • North Northamptonshire Council
  • West Northamptonshire Council
  • Children in Care Council
  • Care Leavers Council
  • Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership
  • Schools in Northamptonshire 
  • Northamptonshire Foster Carers Association
  • Nene and Corby Clinical Commissioning Groups (NHS)
  • Northamptonshire Police
  • Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service 
  • Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
  • Northampton General Hospital
  • Kettering General Hospital
  • University of Northampton
  • East Midlands Ambulance Service
  • Northampton Partnership Homes
  • Voluntary and community organisations that support children and families

Find information on Ofsted reports for Northamptonshire children’s social care services on the Ofsted website.