Fines | LocalGov


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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.