Strong Year For Nottinghamshire Pension Fund, Mother Jailed Following Death of Child, New Family Centre & More

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Justin Doddy, Editor

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Woman sentenced after death of child in Warsop

A woman has been jailed after the death of a child in her care.

Catherine Walker, aged 47, was the legal guardian of a nine-year-old boy who was found unresponsive in his bedroom.

Emergency services were called to the property in Warsop on the morning of 16 December 2024.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics and members of the public on the scene, the boy died later in hospital.

Officers investigating what happened immediately raised concerns about the conditions in the boy's bedroom, which lacked any of the comforts seen elsewhere in the house.

There were no blinds or curtains in the window, and an electric socket was hanging dangerously off the wall.

The bedroom, which had very little furniture and no radiator, also had no door handle and was fitted with a bathroom-style door lock on the outside.

An investigation into the child's lived experience and care was immediately commenced.

Walker, a member of staff at Nottinghamshire Police, claimed that renovations to the room had been taking place at the time of the incident.

Further investigation, however, revealed this to be untrue.

Officers also received evidence from other witnesses that showed clear mistreatment of the boy over a prolonged period of time.

Walker, of Warsop, later pleaded guilty to two counts of assault/ill-treat/neglect/abandon a child/young person to cause unnecessary suffering/injury.

Both charges related to the same child.

At her sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, Catherine Walker – also known as Kathryn – was jailed for six years.

In mitigation, it was said that Walker's former husband – who died shortly after the incident – was the boy's primary carer and had been mainly responsible for his treatment.

In sentencing, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said Walker had deliberately concealed and covered up the 'gratuitous degradation' of the boy, adding that she had effectively sentenced herself to 'a life of shame.'

Detective Chief Inspector Gail Routledge, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:

"This was one of the most upsetting cases I can remember. This boy was very clearly mistreated for a significant period of time and was living in conditions that no child should have to endure.

"It was always our case that this mistreatment was a deliberate choice by the defendant, rather than the result of neglectful parenting.

"I am pleased she has now been held to account for her role in his death."

Nottinghamshire Pension Fund reaches £8.6 billion after strong year of growth

Nottinghamshire Pension Fund has reached a value of £8.659 billion, following strong investment performance and continued work to ensure value for money for members and taxpayers.

Figures reported to the Fund’s Committee show that its value increased by £1.115 billion, or 14.8%, in the 12 months to 30 June 2026.

The Fund also saw significant growth in the latest quarter, increasing by £558 million, or 6.9%.

The latest figures follow work undertaken since 2025 to challenge investment-management costs and ensure more money remains within the Fund.

In December 2025, the Fund announced that it had passed £1 million in savings following a review and renegotiation of investment-management fees.

That work has continued during 2026, alongside a review of the Fund’s strategic asset allocation.

While changes to the allocation may appear relatively small in percentage terms, at a Fund value of more than £8.6 billion, even modest adjustments involve substantial sums.

The Nottinghamshire Pension Fund is separate from Nottinghamshire County Council’s revenue budget and is managed for the long-term benefit of its members. However, the Fund’s performance demonstrates the importance of strong financial stewardship, careful management of public assets and continued scrutiny of costs.

Councillor James Gamble, Chairman of the Nottinghamshire Pension Fund, said:

“These are very positive figures for the Nottinghamshire Pension Fund and reflect the importance of taking a rigorous approach to managing costs and investing for the long term.

“Since 2025, we have been challenging investment-management fees and looking closely at how the Fund’s assets are allocated. Passing £1 million in savings from fee reviews was an important milestone, and we have continued that work this year.

“When you are managing more than £8.6 billion, even relatively small changes can have a very significant financial impact. Our focus remains on making sure the Fund is managed responsibly and that we continue to secure value for money.

“I would also like to thank the Nottinghamshire Pension Fund officers and advisors for their expertise and hard work. Their professionalism and commitment have been central to the progress we have made.”

Councillor Faz Choudhury, Vice-Chairman of the Nottinghamshire Pension Fund, said:

“There is no room for complacency, but this is encouraging progress and a good example of responsible stewardship of significant public assets. I’m grateful to our Pension Fund team for the expertise and diligence they bring to this work every day.”

The Nottinghamshire Pension Fund provides pension benefits for eligible employees and former employees of Nottinghamshire County Council and participating employers.

The Fund’s Committee will continue to oversee its investment strategy, costs, and long-term financial position.

New family time centre in Worksop officially opens

A new, purpose-built centre offering improved facilities for some of the county’s most vulnerable young people is now officially open.

Harmony House in Worksop will help deliver safeguarding services, including offering a safe, welcoming space for children and young people cared for by the county council to have supervised, quality family time with their birth families.

The new £6 million building on Newgate Street replaces the old, nearby residential bungalows which were used for family time, but are no longer fit-for-purpose and will be demolished.

Nottinghamshire County Council Leader Councillor Mick Barton, Councillor Rory Green, Cabinet Member for Children and Families and Councillor James Walker-Gurley, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Asset Management were among those attend an event to celebrate the opening.

Speaking at the official opening, Councillor Barton said he was delighted to celebrate the opening of Harmony House. He said:

“This investment reflects our ongoing commitment to creating the very best environments for children, young people, and families across Nottinghamshire.

“We are also grateful for all the hard work which has gone into this building.”

Councillor Rory Green added:

“We are really proud of these new facilities. It is a fantastic, spacious building which provides a welcoming place for children and young people in our care and their families.

“We hope that many families will benefit from this new centre for many years to come.”

Jenny Williams is the Children’s Service manager who oversees the council’s family time centres says she and her team are thrilled to see the centre now open which is welcoming cared-for children and their families through its doors. She said:

“This has been a long-awaited project, and throughout the building's development our staff, children and families have enjoyed watching the transformation take shape.

“Designed with the experiences and needs of our families at its heart, Harmony House will become the new home for supervised family time arrangements, providing a safe, welcoming, and child-focused environment.

“Family time plays a vital role in helping children who are unable to live with their birth families maintain important relationships and create positive memories. Harmony House has been thoughtfully designed to support these precious moments, offering a comfortable and supportive space where children and their families can spend quality time together.”

The new building has two conference rooms, kitchens and contributes to the county council’s wider plans to move into more cost-efficient, fit for purpose buildings.

The new energy-efficient office, which will save on bills, is being designed, project and cost-managed by Arc Partnership and delivered through its construction partner G F Tomlinson.

Daniel Maher, Managing Director at Arc Partnership, a joint venture between the County Council and SCAPE commented:

“We are proud to be delivering this vital new facility on behalf of the county council, providing design, project and cost management services alongside our delivery partner, GF Tomlinson. Our approach has focused on designing a warm, welcoming environment for the families whilst ensuring value for money."

The Government has asked a Nottinghamshire council to hold fire on a legal challenge over the biggest boundary shake-up in five decades while a review takes place.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s leader Mick Barton (Ref) said last week his authority has a “good case” for a potential legal challenge over government plans to re-shape and merge the area’s councils.

The government made headlines on September 7 when Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, announced an abrupt pause on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in England.

LGR for some English local authorities has been in the pipeline since December 2024, when the government set out its plan to re-shape and merge councils to create new unitary authorities, abolishing the existing two-tier council structure seen in some areas.

It meant that by 2028, Nottinghamshire’s nine local authorities would be reduced to just two unitaries, with the government confirming on July 16 that sections of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe would be merged with Nottingham to form one unitary and a second unitary authority would cover the rest of the county.

LGR has been shrouded with criticism since Labour first announced plans in December 2024, such as concerns that the process was being ‘rushed’ through, could have potential service and representation impacts, and was not taking into account public views on re-shaping options.Councils have even floated legal challenges in the form of judicial reviews, which involves a judge reviewing the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body but it can only be launched to challenge the way a decision was made, rather than the rights and wrongs of a decision.

Nottinghamshire County Council is one of them, with the leader, writing to the government in early September seeking clarification on the government’s LGR decision in what is known as a ‘Pre-Action Protocol’ letter – a procedural step within the judicial review process that aims to get more information about a decision and address any problems before considering further legal proceedings.

Cllr Barton says he has not received a response to this letter and declared in a meeting of the authority’s senior cabinet members on Tuesday (September 22) he was giving the government a deadline of September 24 to respond to it.

The meeting also heard in a separate message from the government that it had “invited” the authority not to progress with its potential legal challenge.

Speaking in the meeting, Sara Pregon, deputy monitoring officer at the council, said the government “has indicated that it considers it premature to provide a substantive response to the council’s Pre-action Protocol letter, as for any judicial review proceedings to be progressed”.

Cllr Barton, said:

“It is the council’s position that the government should be able to respond to their Pre-Action Protocol letter, not withstanding the review.

“The government has also invited us not to progress with our legal claim whilst LGR is under review – I bet they have.”

In Tuesday’s meeting, councillors voted to delegate authority to the leader, to “commence legal proceedings” on the government’s LGR decision following receiving external legal advice, despite the fact the LGR process has been paused.

This means once the authority has received a response from the government over its letter calling for clarification, it will then decide whether it actively pushes for a judicial review.

Meeting documents also stated the estimation of the total costs – if “proceedings reached the substantive stage” – incurred by the council would be between £450,000 to £500,000, which would be covered by a contingency budget.

There are strict time limits for organisations to apply to judicial review claims – within three months of the date the grounds of a claim first arose – which in this case refers to the government’s July 16 decision.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) following the meeting, Cllr Barton said:

“Here at [Nottinghamshire County Council] we went straight down the line since day one.

“We kept to government guidelines and all the government legislation. In my language it was bulletproof and guess what? They went with the City Council’s option that went across borders, the finances, everything the government set out.”

Councillor Sam Smith, Conservative leader of the opposition on the authority, has criticised the Reform-led authority over its handling of LGR in the county, alluding to an inconsistent Little Britain “Vicky Pollard” style approach.

He told the LDRS after the meeting:

“Only now have they voted officially to trigger a judicial review, following external legal advice, so even today, they’ve not taken any legal action against the government.

“In July all Conservative County Councillors voted in favour [on a motion] of pausing LGR in Nottinghamshire and writing to the government to say we’re not dancing to your tune now and what did Reform do? They voted against pausing it.

“They’ve taken political advice off Vicky Pollard. Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no, but yeah.”

The LDRS spoke with Cllr Barton on Sam Smith’s comments, who responded: “The Conservatives [on the authority] haven’t done anything with LGR for 10 years. We’ve taken legal advice, employed our own King’s Counsel [lawyer].

“[Sam Smith] has applied no pressure whatsoever to myself or the council regarding LGR, he’s not engaged in any of the meetings.

“Reform doesn’t agree with LGR, but when we came in we had six months to make an option otherwise the government would make one for us.”

MISTERTON AND WEST STOCKWITH NEWS

MISTERTON NEWS

Pictured: last year’s winning tree, selected by Cllr Adam Archer, Chair of the Parish Council.

It may be three months to Christmas but Misterton Parish Council is continuing preparation for the annual switch-on of the Christmas lights and the accompanying Christmas Tree Festival.

The lights switch-on is on Friday 4 December from 6.00pm on Church Meadow and in the Parish Church, where the Christmas Tree Festival is located.

The Parish Council is writing to local businesses and organisations right now to invite them to enter a decorated tree in the Christmas Tree Festival. There were 20 last year, an increase on the year before, so now's the time to start planning an entry. Like last year, there is also a new ‘class’ of Christmas tree to enter – a novelty tree! And there are prizes galore! Entries can be accompanied by a sheet of A4 outlining what the entrant does.

If anyone can donate a prize for the grand raffle, please drop it into The Misterton Centre. There's also the opportunity to have a stall at the event: outside on Friday evening and/or in the Church on Saturday morning during the Parish Church's Christmas coffee morning. For further information, call The Misterton Centre (01427 890 646).

FUNDS FROM COMMUNITY GRANT AVAILABLE

In this municipal year, District councillors were again allocated £1000 to award grants to local charities and organisations. Cllr Hazel Brand, District Councillor for the Misterton Ward only ever uses her allocation to support activities in Misterton and West Stockwith. So far this year, grants have gone to the Misterton Gardeners’ Club, the newly-formed Women’s Fellowship, and Misterton Bowls Club. That means there’s still £550 unallocated. To apply, please get an application form from The Misterton Centre (themistertoncentre@outlook.com). This also spells out what the criteria are this year. Then let the District Councillor have the completed form to sign.

WEST STOCKWITH NEWS

WEST STOCKWITH’S ‘FAVOURITE’ ACTOR RETURNS!

Actor Tim Marriott, who has twice played in West Stockwith Parish Church, commends the appreciative audience he has had at the venue.

He starred in one-man shows Watson – the Final Problem and Jacks’ Ashes (pictured).

He returns for a third time to the Church for the next evening performance on Friday 2 October when he will be with Nicholas Collett in their play, Waiting for Hamlet. The performance is at 7.00 for 7.30pm; tickets are £13 (students £10). Canapes and soft drinks will be available but BYO tipple!

COST OF LIVING PRESSURES? GRANTS FOR THOSE IN NEED

The Goodwin Charity has funds for those who are in need and live within the area of the former Retford Rural District. This includes West Stockwith. Financial assistance can be paid towards disability aids, household goods/furniture, stair-lifts, bathroom aids, mobility aids, etc. Ask the Administrator to the Managing Trustees (goodwincharity@outlook.com or call 01427 890 780) for an application form. All applications are dealt with in confidence but applicants must wait for a decision of the Trustees before having work done or making a purchase as monies cannot be paid retrospectively. As a Trustee of the Charity, District Cllr Hazel Brand is happy to help and advise anyone considering an application.

NEW FAMILY-FOCUSSED SUNDAY SERVICE

Family Faith@Four is as new family-orientated Sunday service beginning in the New Year. But there is a 'taster' event at St Peter & St Paul's, Gringley, on Sunday 6 December at 4.00pm. This will give all who attend a flavour of what this new service will look like ready for the launch in January 2027. This service is designed with the needs of families, and those not currently seen in local churches, in mind: enabling them to engage with church in a more informal way. It will include a light tea. Even if it’s not your 'cup of tea' please do support this important new step in the life of local churches - it will be an intergenerational service for all six parishes in the Oswaldbeck Benefice: Beckingham, Clayworth, Gringley, Misterton, Walkeringham, and West Stockwith.

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Have a great day and I look forward to seeing you read our next newsletter.

Justin Doddy, Editor