Freedom of information (FOI) releases from TWBC

This is a disclosure log of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's responses to freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) requests that might be of wider public interest.

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280 disclosures

  1. Energy Consumption and Costs

    Please could you provide the following information relating to your organisation’s energy usage: 1. Copies of electricity and gas bills (or a summary equivalent) for the most recent 12-month period available. 2. Total annual electricity consumption (kWh) for the same period. 3. Total annual gas consumption (kWh) for the same period. 4. Total annual cost (?) for electricity and gas, separately if available. 5. The name of your current energy supplier(s). 6. The contract end date(s) for electricity and gas supply. If providing copies of bills is not possible, a summary of the above information in spreadsheet or PDF format would be sufficient.

    Published: 27 February 2026

  2. CCTV cameras in operation - UK councils

    1. How many CCTV cameras are currently in operation in total?

    2. How many of these cameras are for:

    a) Housing

    b) Community safety

    c) Traffic

    3. How many facial recognition cameras are in operation?

    4. How many automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are in operation?

    Published: 26 February 2026

  3. Primate licences

    Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide the following information relating to the Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) Regulations 2024: 1. The number of applications for primate licences received by the council between 6th April 2025 and 24th February 2026. 2. The total number and species of individual primates covered by those applications. 3. Of those applications: * How many have been granted? * How many have been refused? * How many were withdrawn? * How many remain pending as of 24th February 2026? 4. The total number and species of individual primates covered by licences that have been granted.

    Published: 25 February 2026

  4. Byelaws, PSPOs and Policies Relating to Recreational Drone Use

    We seek information regarding your authority’s regulations on the recreational use of drones from land under your jurisdiction. 1. Do you have any byelaws that are used to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the recreational use of drones from land under your jurisdiction? If yes, please provide: a) The dates of each byelaw. b) A digital copy of the byelaws or a direct link to the specific document or webpage where the information can be accessed. 2. Do you have any Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) that are used to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the recreational use of drones from land under your jurisdiction? If yes, please provide: a) The dates of each PSPO. b) The locations and areas these PSPOs cover. c) A digital copy of the PSPOs or a direct link to the specific document or webpage where the information can be accessed. 3. Do you have any policies that are used to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the recreational use of drones from land under your jurisdiction? If yes, please provide: a) The dates of each policy. b) A digital copy of the policies or a direct link to the specific document or webpage where the information can be accessed.

    Published: 25 February 2026

  5. Parks revenue

    I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 about income generated by parks services. Can you tell me how much income/revenue has been generated from your parks services in the last three years per annum? Please give details of individual services and how much they raised. Can you tell me, is the money generated from these services fed back into council owned parks or does it go into a central budget? Can you tell me, are your parks currently maintained by the council or by an external contractor? Over the past three years have they been maintained by the council or by an external contractor? Can you tell me what your council maintenance budget has been over the past three years?

    Published: 25 February 2026

  6. Social housing and asbestos

    I am looking to find out how many homes in your local authority housing stock are identified as having asbestos. Please answer the following questions:

    1. What is your total housing stock under your Local Authority’s management?

    2. How many homes under your direct ownership or management have been recorded to have asbestos?

    3. How many homes under your direct ownership or management have you deemed may contain asbestos but have not had checks undertaken?

    4. How many homes under your direct ownership or management with asbestos are currently occupied ?

    5. How many homes under your direct ownership or management are suspected to have asbestos are currently occupied?

    6. Can you confirm if you policy is to inform residents living with a home owned or managed by you, which contains asbestos that their home contains asbestos ?

    7. Or can you confirm if your policy is to not inform residents living with a home owned or managed by you that they are living with asbestos?

    8. Please provide a summary of how you manage asbestos risk in homes owned or managed by you, where the homes are occupied.

    Published: 23 February 2026

  7. Digital, CRM & Web Team Structure

    Please treat this as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    To understand how your organisation structures and resources digital delivery, please provide the following concise information:

    1. Team Sizes & Structure For the following teams, please provide total FTEs and the number of managers vs staff:

    * CRM development

    * Web development

    * Web content

    * Digital/UX/Service Design

    * Business Analysts supporting CRM/digital

    * Integration team supporting CRM/Web integrations

    * CIO/Change/Transformation officers supporting CRM/digital/web

    Please also confirm:

    * Number of permanent vs temporary staff

    * Number of current vacancies

    2. Pay Bands For each of the above teams, please provide the salary band/grade used for recruitment.

    3. Remit For each team, please provide a short summary of responsibilities including websites managed including subsites and how many online forms the CRM supports.

    4. Costs Please provide:

    * Annual staffing budget for digital/CRM/web functions

    * Annual licence/support costs for CRM, website CMS and integration platforms

    5. Platforms Used Please confirm the CRM system, CMS platform, integration platform and online forms tools currently used. If publicly available, a link to any recent Digital or Customer Strategy would also be appreciated.

    Published: 23 February 2026

  8. Contaminated land

    1. Details of any sites designated Contaminated Land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. We would like to understand current and former (now remediated) Part 2A sites. We would appreciate the full address, Ordnance Survey grid reference, boundary extent and details of the nature and extent of the designation including what measures were put in place to remediate and whether this has been accepted by your authority and/or the Environment Agency/Natural Resources Wales 2. Details of Part A2 and Part B processes regulated by your authority under the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Act 1999, and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 We would appreciate details of all A2 installations and Part B permits in your area, including the following information: your reference for the permit, the name and address of the permit holder, the address for which the permit is granted, the Ordnance Survey grid reference, the date of issue, the process undertaken, the current status of the permit and any enforcement action. If no enforcement action has been implemented please confirm as such 3. Details of historic landfills that may retained in the authority relating to old landfill practices that may include those predating formal permitting and licensing regimes In all cases our preference if possible is to be provided with a GIS data file, but a spreadsheet or CSV file is also acceptable if this is your preferred method.

    Published: 20 February 2026

  9. Staffing of Planning Department

    I am writing with the following requests for information:

    1. What is the established staffing level of the planning department at full capacity (FTE)?

    2. What is the headcount in each of the following seniority categories at full capacity?

    a. Head of Service / Director

    b. Team Leader / Principal Planner

    c. Senior Planner

    d. Planning Officer

    e. Graduate / Assistant Planner

    f. Technical / Administrative staff

    3. What was the average staff headcount (FTE) of the planning department during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025?

    4. As at 31 March 2025, how many planning department staff were in each of the following seniority categories (headcount):

    a. Head of Service / Director

    b. Team Leader / Principal Planner

    c. Senior Planner

    d. Planning Officer

    e. Graduate / Assistant Planner

    f. Technical / Administrative staff

    5. As at 31 March 2025, how many staff were:

    a. Directly employed

    b. Agency workers

    6. During the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, what was the average length of engagement of agency workers (weeks)?

    7. What was the total expenditure (£) on agency planning staff between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025?

    8. What was the average planning department headcount (FTE) in the following financial years: a. 2017/18 b. 2019/20 c. 2021/22

    9. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, how many planning department staff:

    a. Left the department

    b. Were recruited into the department

    10. Of those recruited during this period, how many were appointed: a. To permanent roles b. To fixed-term contract roles

    11. As at 31 March 2025, how many vacant planning department posts existed in each of the following seniority categories (headcount):

    a. Head of Service / Director

    b. Team Leader / Principal Planner

    c. Senior Planner

    d. Planning Officer

    e. Graduate / Assistant Planner

    f. Technical / Administrative staff

    Published: 19 February 2026

  10. Bin collections

    This is an information request relating to scheduled bin collection changes. Please include the following information: * How frequently are bins collected from residential properties? Please provide the frequency for each type of bin and the day its collected * Is the council considering changing the frequency of bin collections? * If so please provide the current frequency as well as the new proposed frequency. * What are the maximum amount of bins/receptacles that are available for collection by the council (i.e. general waste bin, recycle bin, food bin, etc.) This includes bins that residents are charged extra fees to obtain. Please provide a list * How many requests have been made for a larger bin, or an additional bin of the same kind in the current financial year, 2025-26 (to present)?

    Published: 18 February 2026