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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201 disclosures

  1. Acceptance or Refusal of Accommodation Offers

    We write to request certain information from your authority’s housing department, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

    We would like to request information and copies of your authority’s documents (where applicable) relating to how your authority currently fulfils and has historically fulfilled its statutory duties towards homeless applicants (Applicants) following the acceptance or refusal of an accommodation offer (an Offer) and the termination of the ‘main housing duty’ under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 (the Housing Act).

    For the avoidance of doubt, if providing the requested information/documents in one instalment would delay your authority’s response, Shelter would be grateful to receive the requested information/documents in tranches as it/they become(s) available. By email or submitted by portal to the Local Authorities listed in the Annex 210

    The Request

    Please can you provide us with responses to the questions listed below and send us copies of all available documents to support such responses.

    Background: We understand that a local authority’s housing department can discharge its statutory duties when it secures suitable accommodation for Applicants under section 193 Housing Act. We are interested in all information and documents relating to the steps taken by your authority’s housing department following an Applicant’s acceptance or refusal of an offer under section 193 of the Housing Act, including the procedures for notifying Applicants about the consequences of acceptance and refusal, their rights to review, and the termination of the ‘main housing duty’ under section 193 of the Housing Act.

    Questions:

    1. Please provide copies of any policies, guidelines and/or training prepared and/or followed by your authority’s housing department which relate to the practice of notifying Applicants of an Offer in discharge of the ‘main housing duty’, and the steps to be taken by your authority’s housing department where an Applicant accepts or refuses an Offer.

    2. Please confirm what information is provided, and in what format, to Applicants when your authority’s housing department makes an Offer in discharge of the ‘main housing duty’.

    In particular:

    (a) Please confirm whether, and if so how, Applicants are advised in relation to:

    (i) the potential consequences of accepting or refusing an Offer, including as regards the potential termination of the authority’s ‘main housing duty’; and

    (ii) the Applicant’s right to request a review.

    (b) To the extent your authority’s housing department uses any templates and/or precedents for such communications, please provide copies of the same.

    (c) Please provide copies of the information provided to the Applicants in receipt of the five most recent Offers made by your authority’s housing department, including the Offer itself and any subsequent correspondence.

    3. Please confirm what information is provided, and in what format, after an Applicant accepts or refuses an Offer and your authority’s housing department terminates its ‘main housing duty’.

    In particular:

    (a) Please confirm whether it is your authority’s housing department’s practice to always send a separate letter to notify the Applicant of the termination of the ‘main housing duty’ after the acceptance or refusal of an Offer. 310

    (b) Please confirm, and if so how, Applicants are advised in relation to:

    (i) the consequences of your authority’s housing department terminating its ‘main housing duty’; and

    (ii) the Applicant’s right to request a review.

    (c) To the extent your authority’s housing department uses any templates and/or precedents for such communications, please provide copies of the same.

    (d) Please provide copies of the information provided in the five most recent cases where an Applicant has accepted or refused an Offer and your authority’s housing department has terminated its ‘main housing duty’.

    4. If your authority’s housing department’s approach to notifying Applicants of Offers and/or the steps to be taken where an Applicant refuses an Offer is currently under and/or has been subject to review and/or legal challenge, please provide further details (and if already known, the outcome of that review and/or legal challenge).

    Published: 24 November 2025

  2. Anti-social behaviour injunction applications by councils

    1. In the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 to date, please provide the number of applications made by the council for anti-social behaviour (ASB) injunctions under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 2. For each of these years, please provide a breakdown of the gender, age (child or adult if necessary), ethnicity and any disability recorded for the person who is subject to the application 3. Please list the reasons given for the ASB injunction applications made in each of the above years 4. Please specify how many of the injunctions sought included a term prohibiting begging, whether actively or passively 5. Please specify how many of the injunctions sought included a term prohibiting rough sleeping 6. Please provide details on how much was spent by the council in court costs (applications, legal fees, etc) for ASB injunctions in each of these years 7. Please disclose any policies or internal procedures relating to the council’s approach to using ASB injunctions to address begging or rough sleeping

    Published: 18 November 2025

  3. Use of Bird Netting on Council Buildings (Past 5 Years)

    Please provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, covering the past five years (2019–2024) or as many years as data is available:

    1.Buildings:

    - Number of council-owned/managed buildings with bird netting installed.

    2.Bird Deaths & Trapped Birds:

    - Number of dead birds found in netting each year.

    - Number of birds trapped in netting each year, broken down by species if recorded.

    - How many trapped birds were dead vs rescued alive.

    - For any birds found alive: what happened to them (e.g., released, taken to vet/rescue, handed to contractor, culled).

    3.Inspections & Maintenance:

    - How often netting is inspected, repaired or replaced.

    - How many reports of trapped birds the council receives each year.

    - How often the council checks netting to ensure it is not harming birds.

    4.Rationale & Alternatives:

    - Reasons for using bird netting on council buildings.

    - Whether alternatives were considered, and if so, which.

    5.Costs:

    - Annual spending on installation, maintenance, and repair of bird netting.

    Published: 18 November 2025

  4. Temporary Accommodation

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information relating to the use of hotels for temporary accommodation:

    1. Hotel Usage:

    * Do you currently use any hotels (either directly or through third-party providers) for temporary accommodation purposes, such as housing homeless households or individuals?

    * If yes, please list the hotel names and postcodes currently in use.

    2. Rates and Payments:

    * What are the typical rates paid per room or per night (or per room per month) for such accommodation?

    * Please provide the average rate range or rate bands applicable for the past 12 months.

    3. Opportunities to Offer Hotels:

    * Can external hotel operators or accommodation providers offer rooms to the Council at lower or more competitive rates for temporary accommodation use?

    4. Procurement / Contact Information:

    * If yes, please provide the name, email address, and contact number of the appropriate officer or department to whom such offers or proposals should be directed (e.g., Housing, Temporary Accommodation, or Procurement) Please provide the information in electronic format (PDF or Excel). If any part of this request is exempt, please specify the exemption relied upon and provide the remaining non-exempt information where possible.

    Published: 17 November 2025

  5. Planning Committee Membership (2000–present)

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information: • A list of all councillors who are or have been members of the planning committee, for the period 2000 to the present day. • For each councillor, please include their start and end dates of service on the committee. • Please also indicate which councillor(s) served as Chair of the committee, and their corresponding dates in that role.

    Published: 14 November 2025

  6. Software Systems for Departments

    This FOI request concerns the software systems currently in use by your local authority to support the functions listed below.

    Please note that more than one functionality may be served by the same software, or each may be covered by a different software system or even different providers, depending on your technological configuration.

    Where the requested information is already in the public domain, please provide the relevant URLs and guidance on how to access it.

    Functionalities:

    * Planning

    * Building Control

    * Land Charges

    * Environmental Health

    * Licensing (In case of bundling the above functionalities, please specify which functionalities are covered by the contract)

    1. Software System in Use For each of the functions mentioned above, please provide:

    * a) The name of the software/product

    * b) The vendor/provider

    * c) Whether the version used at your local authority is on-premise or cloud-hosted

    * d) The year of original implementation

    * e) Was it a direct awarded or RFP (if RFP, please provide the link for all relevant information)

    * f) The respective contract’s end date; term extension clauses and respective conditions; and current plans to use the extension option (if applicable)

    2. Supplier Performance For each of the functions mentioned before:

    * a) Is the vendor currently (or in the last 12 months) under any performance improvement measures, as described in their respective contract?

    3. Expenditure For each of the functions mentioned before:

    * a) Please indicate the total contract value (TCV), the implementation cost and the total on-going annual subscription cost

    4. Licenses / Users For each of the functions mentioned before:

    * a) Current number of active users licenses

    * b) Current number of active users

    5. Other

    * a) Are there any ongoing discussions, proposals, or binding decisions related to local government reorganization involving your authority (as part of the Local Government Reorganization programmed) — including potential structural changes such as consolidation into a unitary authority or shared service arrangements with neighboring councils? If it is public knowledge, can you provide the councils with which the consolidation will occur?

    Published: 14 November 2025

  7. Complaint Data on Driver/Car Behaviour

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am seeking aggregated data regarding public complaints made to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council about problematic driver and vehicle behaviour. Please provide, for the years 2020 to the most recent available date, annual totals for: - Public complaints relating to cars that are excessively noisy, including those believed to be deliberately modified or driven to emit excessive noise (e.g., “boy racers,” “revving engines,” “loud exhausts”). - Public complaints about antisocial driving behaviours, including but not limited to speeding, street racing, dangerous driving, and use of vehicles in a manner causing harassment, alarm, or distress. - Any other categories of road-user or vehicle-related nuisance or antisocial behaviour maintained in your records (please specify category name if not obvious). For each category, please supply: - The total number of complaints per year (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024/2025 if available). - The method of reporting (if recorded: e.g., email, hotline, online portal, etc.). - Any notes on how these issues are classified or defined by your council (if recorded). - If possible, please provide the response as a structured spreadsheet (CSV or XLSX) with columns: “Year”, “Complaint Type”, “Number of Complaints”, ”Method”, ”Notes” for easier national comparison. If records are not broken down as requested, please provide whatever aggregated or category-level information is available.

    Published: 12 November 2025

  8. Planning and land charges

    1. Number of planning applications received between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025? 2. No. of FTE staff within administration team supporting Development Management Function (not including planning policy)? 3. Does the administration function supporting development management include validation and support the Conservation and Enforcement Team? 4. No. of LLC1 land change searches between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025? 5. No. of FTE staff within administration team supporting Land Charges Function? 6. Has the Land Charges Function migrated to Land Registry? 7. Has the Land Charges Function migrated to Land Registry? 8. Which department do Land Charges and Street Name and Numbering sit within? 9. Salary banding levels of administration and land charges staff Are you requesting info for a certain time period? Yes Start: 01/04/2024 End: 31/03/2025

    Published: 11 November 2025

  9. Cladding / EWS1 Buildings in Your Area

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide a list of all residential or mixed-use buildings within your local authority area that meet any of the following criteria:

    • Have applied for or received funding under the Building Safety Fund or Cladding Safety Scheme;

    • Have been identified by Building Control as having external wall systems (EWS1) requiring remediation;

    • Contain ACM, HPL, or other combustible cladding materials recorded by your authority.

    For each building, please include (where not exempt under Section 40 or 43):

    • Building name and street address

    • Postcode

    • Number of storeys

    • Status (e.g. remediation pending / completed / funding approved / withdrawn)

    • Managing agent or responsible entity, if available I understand personal data may be exempt and am content to receive block-level or development-level information only (no individual flats).

    Please provide the data in spreadsheet or CSV format where possible.

    Published: 10 November 2025

  10. Scrap Metal Dealer Licensing

    * How many scrap metal dealer sites currently have a site licence in your area/council/authority? * How many scrap metal collectors (mobile) currently have a site licence in your area/council/authority? * When did you last share these data with the Environment Agency to enable them to add them to the Register? In addition, under the same FOI, I would be grateful if you could tell me: * How much were your licences (site and collector each) in 2025? * How much do you intend to charge (respectively) in 2026? * How many visits to scrap metal sites have your officers undertaken in 2025?

    Published: 10 November 2025