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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250 disclosures

  1. CPNs and PSPOs

    CPNs

    1. Please state the number of Community Protection Notices (CPNs) issued by your authority in the periods:

    a. November 2023-October 2024;

    b. November 2024-October 2025.

    Please also state the number of Community Protection Warnings (CPWs) issued within these periods.

    2. If possible, please state the subject of these CPNs/CPWs - for example, by providing the texts, or stating the subject matter of the orders (e.g. Litter, waste, ASB).

    3. Please state the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued for the offence of breach of CPN between November 2024-October 2025.

    Please state the offences for which these FPNs were issued.

    PSPOs

    4. Please state the number of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) currently live within your authority.

    5. Please provide a link to the PSPO texts online.

    If no link is available, please attach the PSPO texts.

    6. Please state the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued for the offence of violating a PSPO in the following calendar years:

    - a. 2024

    - b. 2025

    7. Where possible, please state the offences for which these PSPO FPNs were issued (eg begging, alcohol, dog control, dispersal).

    8. Please state whether these PSPO FPNs were issued by a private company (Y/N). If so, please state the name of the company.

    Published: 29 January 2026

  2. FPN's

    1. How many Fixed Penalty Notices have you issued each year since 2023? 2. Could you provide a breakdown of what offences have triggered FPNs each year since 2020, or at least since 2023? 3. How much do you charge per FPN for standard offences such as littering or flytipping? 4. Do you outsource your litter enforcement and if so for how much and who to? 5. How many Public Space Protection Orders have you implemented in the last five years, and for what?

    Published: 27 January 2026

  3. Stray dogs

    Please provide, for the period January 2021 to December 2025: * The number of reported cases of abandoned dogs and/or stray dogs * The total number of abandoned and/or dogs taken in, seized, or otherwise handled by your council, broken down by month * The number of abandoned and/or stray dogs returned to their owner If possible, I would appreciate the data being presented as a year-by-year breakdown

    Published: 26 January 2026

  4. SWEP activations in summer 2025

    Could you please send me the following information regarding Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's use of the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) during summer 2025. * How many times Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) was activated between the dates 31 May 2025 and 1 September 2025, inclusive. * For each activation, the exact date range the SWEP was active between, inclusive (e.g. if the SWEP was activated on 10 June 2025 and ended on 14 June 2025, the date range would be 10/06/2025-14/06/2025). * For each activation, the reason why the SWEP was activated. * For each activation, a list of actions the council took to support people while the SWEP was active, including any actions that were taken to support people in social rented housing owned by the council. * A copy of your latest Severe Weather Emergency Protocol policy document, or a link to where a copy can be found on your website.

    Published: 26 January 2026

  5. Private rented sector enforcement actions (Jan 2020 to Dec 2025)

    I am writing to request information held by you about enforcement actions taken in relation to private landlords and privately rented homes. 1. Information requested Please provide, for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025 inclusive, a month-by-month dataset showing the number of enforcement actions undertaken against private landlords and/or in respect of privately rented dwellings. For each month, please provide the following fields (as held in your records): A. Month (YYYY-MM) B. Enforcement action type (using your own internal categories or statutory power labels) C. Reason/category for the action (using whatever category/issue code you use for tracking) D. Outcome/status of the action (using your tracking outcomes, e.g. complied, appealed, revoked, conviction, civil penalty issued, penalty paid/unpaid, works in default completed, etc.) E. Count of actions (integer) If your system records an action at property-level or case-level, please count each recorded enforcement action instance. If multiple notices/orders are recorded under a single case, please count each distinct action as recorded in your system. 2. Scope and definitions (to reduce ambiguity) For avoidance of doubt, by “enforcement actions” I mean any formal action taken under housing, public health, licensing, planning, or related statutory powers that you record as enforcement against a private landlord or a privately rented property. This includes (where held) but is not limited to: • Housing Act 2004 actions such as Improvement Notices, Prohibition Orders, Hazard Awareness Notices, Emergency Remedial Action, Emergency Prohibition Orders, and related notices/orders. • HMO licensing enforcement actions (mandatory/additional/selective licensing), including licence refusal/revocation, civil penalties, prosecutions, and any recorded enforcement notices relating to licensing breaches. • Works in default, rent repayment order applications initiated by the authority, and any other formal PRS enforcement powers you record. If you use a narrower operational definition of “enforcement action” for reporting, please apply your standard definition and explain it briefly.

    Published: 26 January 2026

  6. Solar photovoltaics (PV)

    I am researching solar photovoltaic (PV) development and wish to make the following request under the Freedom of Information Act.

    Q1 On land and building assets that are owned or controlled

    * by the authority, how much solar PV capacity in kilowatt peak (kWp) has been installed? (*"controlled" means where the authority has management control of a site's facilities and utilities, such as under a long-term lease)

    I would like the response for this to be separated into four categories:

    * Solar PV capacity owned by the authority:

    * Solar PV capacity owned by a community group:

    * Solar PV capacity owned by another party, that is not a community group, where a power purchase agreement (PPA) exists to supply the authority:

    * Any other solar PV capacity owned by another party:

    * If an exact figure for installed solar PV in kWp cannot be obtained, please make an estimate of a minimum value that is known with confidence.

    For example, “estimated – at least 100kWp”.

    Q2 This question asks for information about procurement of solar PV goods and services in the past three years, where a contract has been awarded between 1 January 2023 and the date of this request.

    Could you supply me with the following information please: I have also put Q2 into an Excel template (attached to this email).

    Please use this to return to me, if possible. Please complete these columns for each procurement activity (add more if necessary) No.

    Question Response type List 1 2 1 Procurement route Select from list Framework;

    Dynamic Purchasing System;

    Open Tender; Restricted Procedure;

    Direct Award;

    Other (Please specify) 1a If "other", please specify:

    Text entry 2 What was procured Select from list Design, supply and installation of solar PV panels and related equipment (Design and Build);

    Supply of solar PV panels and related equipment only;

    Supply and installation of solar PV panels and related equipment (separate to design work);

    Installation costs only (separate to supply of equipment or design);

    Design or advisory services only;

    Operations and maintenance only; Other (please specify) 2a If "other", please specify:

    Text entry 3 Procurement award date

    Text entry 4 Final value of the contract (GBP). (Final amount claimed by the supplier. Where a contract is still being delivered, please supply the estimated total spend by the contract end)

    Text entry 5 Contract awarded to (Supplier name)

    Text entry 6 Companies house company number of supplier

    Text entry 7 Kilowatt peak (kWp) of solar PV installed

    Text entry 8 Type of solar PV development Select from list Roof-mounted; Ground-mounted; Solar car park canopy; Other (please specify)

    8a If "other", please specify:

    Text entry 9 Commissioning / handover date

    Text entry 10 Project location (Site name and address)

    Text entry 11 Project location (Post code)

    Text entry 12 What category best describes the type of site? Select from list Residential dwellings; Commercial, business and services (including offices); Industrial or storage; Schools; Other public services, leisure and community; Agricultural; Car park; Land; Other (please specify)

    12a If "other", please specify:

    Text entry 13 Was the project this contract relates to funded wholly or in part by an external grant? Select from list Yes - Wholly funded with grant; Yes - Partially funded with grant; No

    13a If "yes", please give the value of grant funding (GBP)

    Text entry 13b If "yes", please give the grant funding source

    Text entry 14 Was the project this contract relates to funded or financed from any other sources external to the local authority, other than a grant? (for example, loans, bonds, other equity investors) Select from list Yes; No

    14a If yes, please give the value of external funding or finance (GBP) Text entry

    14b If yes, please give the source of external funding or finance Text entry

    15 Please give a description of the contract.

    Please include any details included in the contract value that are not solar PV or related equipment (for example, battery energy storage or additional works to a roof).

    Published: 23 January 2026

  7. Vacant properties

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

    I am seeking anonymised information held by the council relating to long-term vacant residential properties within your local authority area.

    The information will be used to identify opportunities to bring empty homes back into use through refurbishment.

    Specifically, for all residential properties recorded as vacant, I request the following where held and where disclosure is permitted:

    The total number of residential properties classed as long-term vacant (6 months or more)

    The length of time each property has been recorded as vacant (banded if necessary, e.g. 6-12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5+ years)

    Council Tax empty property classification codes applied

    Property type (e.g. house / flat), if recorded

    Ownership category (private individual / company / other), if recorded

    Published: 23 January 2026

  8. Public Health Funerals

    Under the Freedom of Information Act, I am writing to request the following information regarding funerals arranged by the Council under Section 46 Public Health Act 1984 (England and Wales) and Section 87 of the Burial and Cremation Act 2002 (Scotland).

    1. How many such funerals has the Council arranged since 17 September 2025?

    1. In each case please disclose:

    a) The name and last residential address of the deceased

    b) The deceased’s dates of birth and death

    c) Whether the deceased’s next of kin/family members have been traced d) Whether the deceased’s estate has been referred to the Government Legal Department or elsewhere

    1. Has the Council passed this information to any other individual or organisation (either formally through a FOI request or by other means)?

    1. What is the Council policy on referring Bona Vacantia matters to the relevant authorities across the UK?

    1. Does the Council work with any genealogist? If so, which?

    1. Does the Council publish a list of Public Health Funerals it has arranged? If so:

    a) Where is the list published (please provide web url if on-line)?

    b) How often is the list updated?

    c) When was the list last updated?

    1. Who in the Council is responsible for the Council’s Public Health Funerals? Please advise us of their names and contact details.

    Published: 21 January 2026

  9. Tree Management and Survey Data (2015–Present)

    1. Tree Management System

    Please confirm which tree management software package your organisation currently uses. If it is an in-house system, please state this; or state if none is used.

    2. Tree Inventory Summary

    Please provide:

    • The approximate number of trees for which your organisation has management responsibility.

    • The number of those trees that are subject to Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs).

    3. Tree Data

    Please provide available tree data for the period 2015 to the current date.

    If the dataset is too large or would exceed the appropriate cost/time limits under Section 12 of the FOI Act, please provide a manageable subset of the data.

    I will calculate proportionality from this subset.

    Would you either:

    • Provide a link to a publicly accessible and downloadable portal, or

    • Provide the data in CSV or XLSX format.

    For each tree, I would be grateful if the following attributes could be included where available:

    • Survey data capture date

    • Tree number/reference

    • Species

    • Height

    • Diameter at breast height (DBH)

    • Crown dimensions

    • Growth direction measurements (North, East, South, West)

    • Tree location (Ordnance Survey coordinates, British National Grid reference, Global ID, or other locational parameter)

    Where a tree has been surveyed on multiple occasions, please include all recorded entries (for example, Tree 1 may have data spanning 2015–2024, Tree 2 may only have data for 2023–2024).

    4. Format and Clarification

    If the data structure or field names differ from the list above, please include a brief explanation or a data dictionary so that the dataset can be interpreted accurately.

    Published: 21 January 2026

  10. Use of AI

    AI Use in Operations

    1. Does your organisation currently use any form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or automated systems in its operations?

    * If yes, please list the tools or systems in use and provide a brief description of their purpose (e.g., administrative support, triage, analytics, chatbot services, etc.).

    * If not, please state whether your organisation has explored or piloted any AI-based technologies in the past 3 years.

    AI for Decision-Making

    2. Does your organisation use AI or algorithmic systems to support or inform decision-making in any area (e.g., resource allocation, risk assessments, case prioritisation)?

    * If yes, please describe the type of decision-making supported and the nature of the AI’s role (e.g., advisory, automated assessment, automated decision).

    * Please also confirm whether human oversight is applied.

    AI Chatbots and Customer Interaction

    3. Does your organisation currently use chatbots or virtual assistants—AI-driven or rules-based—to support public enquiries or internal staff functions?

    * If yes, please specify their purpose, whether they are AI-based, and when they were implemented.

    Policies and Governance

    4. Does your organisation have any formal policy, strategy, or guidance relating to the use of Artificial Intelligence or automated decision-making?

    * If yes, please supply a copy or provide a link.

    * If not, please indicate whether such a policy is in development.

    Data Protection and Ethics

    5. If AI systems are used, what measures or frameworks does your organisation have in place to ensure:

    * Compliance with data protection and privacy obligations

    * Transparency for service users

    * Ethical or responsible use (For example, DPIAs, algorithmic impact assessments, ethical guidelines—if applicable.)

    Trials, Pilots, or Future Plans

    7. Has your organisation run any pilots, trials, or exploratory projects involving AI in the last 3 years, or does it plan to do so in the next 12–24 months?

    * If yes, please provide brief details of the purpose, timeline, and status of these initiatives.

    Staff Training and Awareness

    8. Does your organisation provide any training, guidance, or internal communications to staff relating to AI, its use, or its implications?

    * If yes, please describe the type of training or include documents if available.

    If any of the above information is already publicly accessible, please feel free to provide links instead of attachments.

    Published: 20 January 2026