VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Fly-tippers to be charged for cost of seizing vehicles
30/04/2025 The Government is encouraging councils to work with the police to seize and crush vehicles used by waste criminals as part of a crack-down on fly-tipping. |
Cambridgeshire fined £6m after busway fatalities
17/04/2025 Cambridgeshire County Council has been fined £6m for health and safety breaches which resulted in three fatalities on its guided busway. |
Anti-abortion campaigner fined £20k for ‘buffer zone’ breach
07/04/2025 An anti-abortion campaigner has been given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,000 to BCP Council for breaching a protest ‘buffer zone’. |
Council issues £45k in housing fines
01/04/2025 Salford City Council has issued £45,000 of fines to landlords in an effort to improve local housing conditions. |
London drivers receiving invalid fines, AA finds
22/01/2025 Research by the AA has revealed that authorities in London have been issuing drivers with invalid penalty charge notices (PCNs). |
Council offers cash reward for reporting on dog fouling
10/12/2024 Telford and Wrekin Council is offering a cash reward to people who report dog walkers who do not clean up after their pets. |
‘Busybody’ fines surged 42% last year
09/12/2024 There was a 42% spike in the number of on-the-spot fines issued for offences like swearing, loitering, drinking alcohol and begging in England and Wales last year, new research has found. |
Council fined £500k after dog walker death
11/11/2024 Cheshire East Council has been fined £500,000 after admitting breaches of health and safety legislation that led to a dog walker's death. |
Council prosecutes mail company for accepting fake IDs
29/10/2024 A mail forwarding company has been fined after an investigation by Islington Council revealed it was accepting fake identification. |
London cabbies receive fines after cyberattack
14/10/2024 Thousands of London taxi drivers have received automated penalties from Transport for London despite being exempt from the city's Ultra Low Emission Zone. |
Council set to pay out £357,000 over incorrect fines
09/10/2024 Reading Borough Council expects to reimburse drivers £357,000 after discovering it had incorrectly issued more than 6,000 parking fines. |
Traffic wardens ticket prop cars on Daniel Day-Lewis film set
07/10/2024 Traffic wardens have issued parking tickets to prop vehicles being used to film Daniel Day-Lewis’ come back film. |
Councils accused of being overzealous with ‘middle-class fly-tipping’
23/09/2024 Councils have been accused of being overzealous when it comes to fining people who leave items outside their home for neighbours to collect for free. |
Abortion clinic 'buffer zones' set to come into force
20/09/2024 Safe access buffer zones will be in force around abortion clinics from 31 October, the Home Office has confirmed. |
Number of fines referred to bailiffs up 67%
20/08/2024 The number of penalty charge notices (PCN) referred to enforcement agencies has jumped by two thirds this year, trade body says. |
Cheshire East sets out plan to tackle £100m deficit
16/08/2024 Plans to address a £100m budget gap over four years will be considered by Cheshire East councillors next week. |
Liverpool warns 40,000 drivers caught by new cameras
14/08/2024 Liverpool City Council issued 40,000 warnings to drivers caught committing moving traffic violations by new cameras in the past six months. |
Council issues first fine for illegal log burner use
24/07/2024 Wakefield Council has for the first time issued a fine to stop ‘unreasonable and excessive smoke’ from a log burner. |
Requests for driver details rise
18/06/2024 Councils and parking companies are increasingly requesting details about a car’s registered keeper, which allows them to fine drivers, according to a car sales firm. |
Council has ‘no plans’ to cancel fines despite error
17/06/2024 Fines issued to drivers for using bus lanes will not be revoked despite containing a mistake, Southwark Council has said. |
Councils bring in over £127m in bus lane fines
07/06/2024 Local authorities in England brought in a total of £127.3m in revenue from bus lane fines in 2022/23, according to the AA. |
LGA launches attack on DfT over traffic fine surplus plans
17/05/2024 Council bosses have hit back at the Department for Transport (DfT) over plans to restrict their ability to generate surpluses from traffic contraventions. |
Councils fail to collect £7m in fines from rogue landlords
14/05/2024 Less than half the fines levied against rogue landlords have been collected by local authorities, a freedom of information request has revealed. |
Supreme Court overturns council’s Japanese knotweed fine
10/05/2024 A council in Wales will no longer have to pay out thousands of pounds in compensation for damage caused by Japanese knotweed, the Supreme Court has ruled. |
Grant Thornton fined over pension audit
08/04/2024 Grant Thornton has been fined by the Financial Reporting Council for ‘failures’ in its audit of an unnamed local authority’s pension fund. |
Fly-tipping fines ring-fenced
02/04/2024 Funds raised from fly-tipping fines will be ring-fenced to help keep communities tidy, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. |
Only one in 20 illegal vape sellers fined
13/02/2024 Illegal vapes were seized from nearly 3,000 unscrupulous sellers last year, but only one in 20 were issued fines, new FOI requests have revealed. |
Council criticised for punishing rural weeing
30/01/2024 Peeing in the countryside is an act of littering, a Hertfordshire borough council insists. |
Council’s parking fine income up 50%
08/01/2024 Buckinghamshire Council brought in £1.4m from parking fines in 2023, a 50% increase compared to 2022. |
Fly-tipping enforcement up as incidents drop
24/10/2023 Councils carried out more enforcement action in response to illegal waste dumping last year as the number of reported incidents fell. |
MPs call for SEND support to tackle school absences
27/09/2023 MPs have called for more support for pupils with special educational needs (SEND) to tackle school absences and a consistent approach to the issuing of fines. |
Newcastle clean air zone brings in £500k
27/09/2023 Newcastle City Council’s clean air zone (CAZ) has brought in over £500,000 in the first six months of its operation, new figures from the council reveal. |
Landlord fined £285,000 after council investigates illegal homes
01/09/2023 A landlord who crammed vulnerable tenants into tiny flats above a Stoke Newington pub has been fined £285,000 after Hackney Council enforcement officers intervened. |
Housing Ombudsman orders Waverley to pay £13,000
11/08/2023 Waverley Borough Council has been ordered to pay nearly £13,000 after delays meant a resident was forced to install disability adaptations themselves. |
Council fined after family of six forced to share bedroom
01/08/2023 The Housing Ombudsman has fined Barking and Dagenham Council £6,000 after its failure to deal with damp and mould resulted in a family sharing a bedroom. |
London Councils signals hike in parking and traffic penalties
01/08/2023 Cross-party group London Councils is consulting on penalty charges for parking and traffic offences, and says current charges are not high enough. |
Town centre parking charges to be reviewed
31/07/2023 Changes to parking charges and debt recovery fees could soon be introduced as the Government looks at ways to better regulate the private parking industry. |
Hertfordshire CC refuses to allow ULEZ signs
26/07/2023 Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) signs and enforcement cameras will not be permitted in Hertfordshire, the council leader has told London Mayor Sadiq Khan. |
Councils issue record number of finds for 'busybody' offences
20/07/2023 Local authorities issued the highest ever number of penalties for anti-social behaviour – or for what have been branded 'busybody' offences – in 2022. |
Cap on fly-tipping fines should be ‘removed altogether’
12/07/2023 The Government’s decision to increase the maximum fines for fly-tipping falls short of what is required to crackdown on offenders, council chiefs have said. |
Plymouth fined £200,000 over workers’ hand conditions
10/07/2023 Plymouth City Council (PCC) has been fined £200,000 after its failures to comply with legislation led to employees developing hand and wrist conditions. |
Maximum fine for fly-tippers more than doubles
10/07/2023 The maximum amount local authorities will be able to fine people who are caught littering, fly-tipping or graffitiing has increased. |
Thames Water fined millions over roadwork problems
03/07/2023 London councils fined Thames Water more than £12m for late or badly managed roadworks over a five-year period, according to data obtained by the Green Party. |
Bus lane fines making councils up to £3.7m a year
03/07/2023 Bus lanes and bus gates meant councils received up to £3.7m from penalty charge notices (PCNs) in 2022, according to new research by Forbes Advisor. |
Fly-tipping fines to more than double in Scotland
29/06/2023 Fines for fly-tipping will more than double to £500 as part of ‘bold action’ to reduce waste dumped in Scotland. |
Childcare provider fined record £225,000
22/05/2023 Britain’s biggest childcare provider given record fine after mouse droppings were found in the kitchen and the children’s play areas of one of its nurseries. |
Council apologises for fining entire car park
17/05/2023 A local authority has apologised after all the vehicles in a car park were mistakenly issued with fines. |
Southwark ordered to pay £10,000 over housing issues
17/05/2023 Southwark Council has been ordered to pay almost £10,000 to two residents after severe maladministration findings were issued by the Housing Ombudsman. |
Drivers at risk of unfair yellow box fines
03/05/2023 Drivers are at risk of being fined unfairly due to problems with nine-in-10 yellow box junctions councils want to enforce, the RAC warns. |
Woman fined £1,500 for discarded cigarette butt
21/04/2023 A Bristol woman has been fined a total of nearly £1,500 after throwing her cigarette butt on the ground outside a supermarket. |
Islington Council scraps library fines
17/04/2023 Islington residents who have an overdue library book can now return it without fear of being penalized, the local authority has said. |
Lambeth council fined £20k after child misses operation
13/04/2023 A young person spent three years in unnecessary pain because delays by Lambeth council meant they could not have a crucial operation, the ombudsman has ruled. |
Fly-tipping incidents skyrocket by a third
05/04/2023 The number of fly-tipping incidents has increased by a third since 2010, a new analysis by Labour has revealed. |
Wandsworth Council stopped from issuing ‘unlawful’ fines
15/02/2023 The DfT has stopped Wandsworth Council from ‘unlawful’ fining of speeding drivers after the council became the first local authority to issue tickets. |
Councillors’ parking tickets binned by officers in Liverpool
08/02/2023 Council officers in Liverpool binned dozens of parking tickets given to councillors without going through any formal process, according to a local newspaper. |
Council hands back £100,000 of fines after road sign U-turn
01/02/2023 Lambeth Council has handed back £100,000 to drivers who were fined because of its confusing road signs. |
Charge manufacturers for fly-tipping clean up, council chiefs say
01/02/2023 Manufacturers should contribute to the cost of cleaning up fly-tipped rubbish to help tackle the health risk posed by the illegal practice, council chiefs say. |
Triple on-the-spot littering fines, think tank urges
23/01/2023 A think tank has called for a ‘revitalised’ litter strategy including tripling the level of fines and ranking councils on enforcement of anti-littering laws. |
Council seeks court order to crack down on ‘street cruising’
22/12/2022 Birmingham City Council is seeking a High Court order to ban street cruising from all city roads. |
Redbridge Council first council to issue fine for catcalling
21/12/2022 Redbridge Council has become the first local authority in London to issue a fixed penalty notice for sexual harassment. |
Council fined £30,000 after disabled man left in unsuitable accommodation
24/11/2022 Birmingham council has apologised after a disabled man was left in unsuitable temporary accommodation for eight years. |
Council launches traffic safety scheme in UK first
21/10/2022 Wandsworth council has launched a pilot scheme that will see drivers fined by the local authority if they speed in a 20mph zone. |
Council apologises for care home top-fees
20/10/2022 Birmingham City Council has apologised ‘unreservedly’ for wrongly charging a family care home fees for more than 11 years. |
Council awarded £68,000 after illegal tree felling
15/09/2022 Eastleigh Borough Council has secured its largest ever fine and costs totalling over £68,000 after a local landowner cut down some trees. |
Councils encouraging ‘cut throat’ market in enforcement
22/08/2022 Nine in 10 councils who employ private enforcement companies to issue penalties for offences such as littering are incentivising the issuing of fines. |
Council chiefs call for tougher punishments for fly tippers
19/08/2022 Local authority leaders have called for the introduction of tougher sentences to help in the fight against fly tipping. |
Why councils must not relax data protection standards
12/07/2022 Rob Batters warns councils should not relax data protection standards in response to the ICO's new strategy. |
Failing social housing landlords to face unlimited fines
08/06/2022 Failing social housing landlords will face unlimited fines and 'Ofsted-style' inspections under new powers announced today. |
DfT seeks ‘fair' moving traffic offence enforcement
01/06/2022 The Department for Transport has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outside London on applying for and using civil enforcement powers for bus lane and moving traffic contraventions. |
Government to penalise companies for ‘plague of potholes’
13/05/2022 The Government will introduce new measures to penalise companies responsible for leaving potholes on the roads after carrying out street works. |
Councils to be banned from charging for disposal of DIY waste
11/04/2022 The Government has proposed banning local authorities from charging for the disposal of DIY waste from households. |
Council fined £8,000 after cliff collapse
07/04/2022 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council has been fined for undertaking work without a marine licence in the wake of a partial cliff collapse. |
Council awarded £1.3m in damages over leaky roof
07/04/2022 An adjudicator has awarded £1.3m in damages to Wakefield Council following long standing issues with the design of an academy. |
Council criticised after vulnerable teen misses year of education
03/03/2022 A teenager with special educational needs has missed out on a year’s education because the county council did not plan for her to move schools after Year 11. |
Khan calls for bigger fines to punish rogue landlords
17/02/2022 The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called for bigger fines to be issued to rogue landlords as part of a move to protect the capital’s renters. |
DfT begins moving traffic powers handover
01/02/2022 The Department for Transport has released new regulations to give English councils outside of London the power to enforce moving traffic violations, including issuing fines for stopping in a box junction. |
Five companies fined £33m over prepaid cards cartel
20/01/2022 Five companies that provided local authorities with prepaid cards for vulnerable people have been fined more than £33m by the UK regulator for ‘cartel behaviour’. |
Council ‘disappointed’ with tribunal decision over charging scheme
12/01/2022 Halton Borough Council has defended its decision to issue 11 fines to one individual in relation to an enforcement scheme on the Mersey Gateway Bridge. |
Council found guilty of ‘maladministration’ over leaky roof complaint
11/01/2022 The London Borough of Ealing has said it is reviewing its working practices after the Housing Ombudsman found that it was guilty of ‘severe maladministration’. |
Councils call for increase in parking penalty charges
31/08/2021 Local authorities across the UK have called for an increase in parking penalty charges to make them a more effective deterrent. |
Council chiefs call for fly-tipping fines to be increased ‘significantly’
09/08/2021 Local authority leaders have called for fly-tipping fines to be increased ‘significantly’ as part of the battle against waste crime. |
Councils urged to take more action against criminal landlords
04/08/2021 Over half of local authorities in England have failed to use new powers to issue civil penalties against rogue landlords in the past three years, a new survey has revealed. |
Councils levy over £1m fines for COVID offences
18/06/2021 Councils have issued over £1m in fines to businesses for COVID offences, an investigation has unveiled. |
Councils deal with 20,000 fly-tipping incidents a week
17/05/2021 Council chiefs call for tougher sentences for people caught illegally dumping rubbish as figures show councils deal with 20,000 fly-tipping incidents a week. |
Insurer compares the market for parking fines
19/01/2021 Councils are issuing fines worth an average of £850,000 a year for parking offences, with one raking in more than £10m, according to new research. |
York council issues warning after police hand out ‘shocking’ number of COVID fines
23/12/2020 City of York police have issued what they describe as a ‘shocking’ number of fines to tier 3 residents who visited the city last weekend. |
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Council given power to tackle antisocial lorry parking
11/12/2020 Kent County Council has been given new powers to clamp and fine lorries that are illegally or inappropriately parked. |
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London council fines two rogue landlords £110,500
22/10/2020 Islington Council has fined two landlords £110,500 for providing dangerous and sub-standard housing. |
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Indoor inter-household mixing banned in North East
29/09/2020 People living in several areas in the North East will be fined if they mix indoors with individuals from different households, the Government has announced. |
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Psychiatrists call for suspension of fines for children who can’t attend school
26/08/2020 The Royal College of Psychiatrists has called for the suspension of fines for children who can't attend school due to Covid-related anxiety. |
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London boroughs and Cardiff Council take £58.2m from moving traffic offences
19/08/2020 Councils in London and Cardiff made £58.2m from moving traffic offences in 2018/19, according to the RAC. |
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Council hits out at ‘flawed’ bus lane review
18/08/2020 Newcastle City Council has warned that a review into its bus lane signage contains a ‘number of legal errors’. |
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Council fined after fatal tree branch accident
21/07/2020 Wirral Borough Council has been fined £100,000 after a pregnant woman lost her baby when a tree branch fell and hit her moving vehicle. |
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Homeowner fined over £60,00 for ‘wilful damage’ to a protected tree
24/12/2019 A homeowner who damaged a 90-year-old tree so much that it had to be felled has been fined over £60,000 by magistrates. |
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Council fined over £1m after child suffers ‘life-changing head injury'
05/12/2019 Hampshire County Council has been fined £1.4m after a child suffered a head injury caused by an unsecured street bollard. |
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Leeds to abolish fines for overdue library books
10/10/2019 Leeds is the latest council to join a growing number abolishing fines for overdue library books. |
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Councils urged to fine drivers who leave engines running while parked
07/10/2019 Seven out of ten drivers want to see councils doing more to tackle motorists who leave their engines running when parked, a car insurance company has found. |
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Biffa fined for £350,000 over contaminated China shipment
30/09/2019 Waste management firm Biffa has been fined £350,000 for trying to send contaminated household waste to China. |
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Council apologises after motorist denied right to challenge parking ticket
26/09/2019 Cherwell DC has apologised ‘unreservedly’ after an investigation revealed that motorists were being denied the right to challenge parking tickets. |
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Council to refund hundreds of incorrect parking fines
04/07/2019 Hundreds of parking fines are to be repaid after a council discovered it had imposed them on motorists using free car parks. |
