Latest news with #LocalDemocracyReportingService.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Northampton families 'living in limbo' on Send waiting lists
A mother has said her son's two-and-a-half year wait for an autism assessment has been like "living in limbo" with "no light at the end of the tunnel".Shannon, 37, from Northampton, said her son, Cassian, eight, was put on the waiting list in August then, the county's average waiting time for assessments of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has almost doubled. The Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) said it had seen a large number of referrals following the Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to an increase in wait times. It added that it was working with system partners to try to increase its capacity for assessments and reduce waits. 'He wasn't taken seriously' Cassian received a diagnosis for ADHD in November, but is still awaiting an assessment for said that made it harder for schools and organisations to understand his needs."Teachers don't show the same level of understanding and empathy without that diagnosis. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases he wasn't taken seriously," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service."You just feel like you're living in limbo all the time. "You get letters with no timeline, no date, no real indication of anything that's going to happen." According to a Freedom of Information request, in 2024 people were waiting an average of 530 days for an assessment - almost a year and a compares with 287 days in reported that 4,099 children were waiting for assessments in March 2025, up from 2,497 children just 18 months earlier. Shannon said it felt like a "massive victory" when Cassian received his ADHD said: "The sooner you have that diagnosis, the sooner you can put these therapies in place that help them get to where they should be. "It feels never-ending as a Send parent (special educational needs and disabilities) – that there is no light at the end of the tunnel." 'My children get one childhood' Northamptonshire mum Sam, 46, said she had to fight for all three of her children to get Send assessments and specialist provision, but that the wait for her youngest daughter, Eva-Rose, 10, had been the most difficult."Just some transparency is needed. To this day, I have no idea where my child is on that list," Sam said Eva-Rose had been waiting for more then two years on the ADHD and autism pathway, making it harder to access potential support such as further speech and language therapy. Ms Flitton "actively sought out" a "Right to Choose pathway", which allows patients facing long waiting times to go to private should get an assessment in the next 12 said: "If I didn't act, we would still be sat on a non-existent, no-outlook NHS waitlist. "My children get one childhood and that should not include watching their mother on her knees begging for scraps of support," she added. An NHFT spokesperson said the increase in referrals and waiting times was "in line with national trends"."We recognise the challenge this can have for families and are working with system partners to consider how capacity for assessments can be increased and waiting times reduced," they trust said support was provided to young people and families on the waiting list."The feedback from families on this support has been predominantly positive. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide regular updates on individual children's place on the waitlist, as the team's capacity is focused on carrying out assessments." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Parents protest over loss of lollipop lady at Peterborough school
Parents protesting outside a primary school say making its lollipop lady redundant raises serious safety Bryan had been helping children cross the road outside Eye Primary for more than 26 years, but she is one of four such workers losing their jobs across Peterborough as the city council makes budget described her job as a daily "battle" with traffic, which one parents described as "awful".Angus Ellis, cabinet member for environment and transport at the Labour-run council, said: "Speed restrictions such as 20mph zones are in place at each of the schools and we are also providing road safety education for pupils." Families have protested outside Eye Primary calling for Ms Bryan's job to be is temporarily continuing her job as a volunteer."There's not a lot I can do; I've just got to take it on the chin; I just feel sorry for the children and the parents," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service."The traffic doesn't stop for me so what makes them thinks it will stop for parents, whether there is a zebra crossing or not?"In the mornings, it's a fighting battle every day." 'Nightmare' Katie Berry, one of the parents, said: "The amount of accidents and near misses I've seen - it's almost daily. It's a complete rat-run."[An accident] is really now a matter of time. I know it sounds dramatic, but it is a 'when', not an 'if' now."She described Ms Bryan as a "lovely lady".Steve Allen, a Conservative councillor for Eye, joined parents at the protest and called the road "a total nightmare"."I know the council has to save money and I'm conscious council officers have been trying to close down the lollipop lady operations, but I think you have to look at each one in isolation," he council said plans to cut school crossing services at four schools was agreed as part of the 2024-25 budget."It is one of a number of difficult decisions councillors have had to make to be able to balance the budget," said Ellis. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
24-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Second data centre could bring jobs, North Lincolnshire council told
A data centre that could create up to 1,000 jobs has been put forward as a potential plan for North Lincolnshire.A pre-application document has been filed with North Lincolnshire Council for the possible development on land south and east of Elsham Wolds Industrial documents suggest the buildings would be on a site covering about 180 comes after councillors approved plans for a £2.2bn data centre last year by the A180 near South Killingholme, which will create almost 400 jobs. That data centre, Humber Tech Park, would make "the area a leader in artificial intelligence", the council previously pre-application for the possible Elsham Wolds centre precedes any request for outline planning permission, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."It is anticipated if the construction process runs as a continual process for all items within the proposed development, it will take up to 10 years to complete construction," the document said. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
23-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Grimsby road to be closed while library books are removed
A road next to a North East Lincolnshire library will be closed intermittently over the next three weeks while its collection is removed following a water Street will be shut to allow the books to be removed from Grimsby Central 1960s building has been closed since 28 March after the leak was found and will remain shut for "some time" to allow for asbestos to be removed, North East Lincolnshire Council council is also looking for an alternative temporary town centre location for the library. Blue badge parking in New Street will be unavailable when the road is closed, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."Contractors will ensure to move as quickly as possible and [we] apologise for the inconvenience," the council said. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
01-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Stockton resident fears grade II listed farm house will collapse
A man has called for action to fix a crumbling grade II listed building, which he fears will collapse into his Collins, 52, lives next door to Bradley House Farm and Stables in Wolviston, Stockton, and said sections of the roof were "ready to fall in".He described the building as an "absolute wreck" and said he feared an adjoining wall would damage his Billingham-based engineer Paul Messham, said he wanted to turn it "back to a beautiful living accommodation" but said the project had suffered delays due to difficulties working with the listed building. Mr Collins said the house, which has been fenced off, had been plagued with vandalism."Kids are breaking in and smashing it up. Bit by bit they're slowly destroying it. It's getting to the point where there's not going to be much salvageable," he said."Everything's full of holes and smashed up. The whole place is literally falling into the ground." Mr Collins said he had been in touch with Stockton Borough Council about the property and wanted it to serve notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which would require work to be carried England described Bradley House as a "rare survival of a farm complex in a modern urbanised area" and an "eloquent witness to Wolviston's pre-urban past".Mr Messham said the property was not something he and his business partner were going to forget about, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."It's just the fact that this is such an awkward building to work with, you've got to go through all the hoops to get anything done," he said."We've been in talks with Stockton council about how to move forward with this, which is looking positive."But the idea is not to pull it all down. Too many people pull it all down and build houses to make money, it isn't about that." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
