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In light of the increased fees by the Planning Portal, which we understand to be a private company now, we are not aware of any legislation that prevents us submitting applications directly via consultants or as individuals. I am trying to understand the methods allowed by your planning department according to any internal rules or guidance that you might hold. I am not looking for any planning advice in this request, merely your policies as determined by your planning department. In light of this, please can you advise me as to whether we can submit a planning applications or prior approval requests directly to the local authority in accordance with the relevant legislation as laid down by the government. Please advise as to whether any forms are acceptable, provided they contain the same information as contained in forms supplied by the Planning Portal or via forms that contain your local authority branding as hosted by the Planning Portal. Please advise as to which email address the forms should be submitted. Please also advise as to how payment should be made to the local authority for the correct fee. Finally please advise on any additional fee to submit directly and the reasons for this fee.
Published: 25 September 2026
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Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information concerning the enforcement of household waste receptacle requirements under Sections 46 and 46A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This request does not include enforcement relating to fly-tipping, littering or breaches of the household waste duty of care. Please provide the information for each of these financial years: * 2023/24 * 2024/25 * 2025/26 1. How many written warnings were issued to householders for failing to comply with requirements concerning the presentation, placement or storage of household waste receptacles? 2. How many notices of intent to issue a fixed penalty were served? 3. How many final notices requiring payment of a fixed penalty were issued? 4. Please provide a breakdown of the written warnings and final notices by the reason or offence category recorded in the council’s system. This might include: * Leaving bins or waste out too early * Failing to remove bins following collection * Obstructing a pavement, road or other public access * Placing waste in the wrong location * Using an incorrect receptacle * Placing incorrect waste in a receptacle * Leaving excess or side waste * Allowing waste to attract vermin * Any other recorded reason I am requesting the council’s existing recorded categories and do not expect individual cases to be manually reviewed or reclassified. 5. For each financial year, please provide: * The standard value of the fixed penalty * The total monetary value of fixed penalties issued * The number and total value of fixed penalties paid * The number withdrawn or cancelled * The number successfully challenged or overturned 6. Please provide a street-level breakdown of the written warnings and final notices issued. I am requesting street names only and do not require house numbers, residents’ names or complete addresses. Please supply the information electronically in CSV or Excel format where possible. If providing a street-level breakdown would exceed the appropriate cost limit. Please do not reject the entire request without advising which information can be supplied within the cost limit.
Published: 23 September 2026
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1. How much has the local authority spent to date (2024-26) on matters relating to Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution?
2. How much has the local authority budgeted to spend in the future on matters relating to Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution before it is abolished in 2028? Note: The above figures should include funds being allocated and spent by the council but covered by central government grants or other external sources of funding.
Published: 15 September 2026
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I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the Council's procurement and use of cyber security services. Where available, please provide details for the current contract(s), supplier(s) and procurement arrangements relating to the following services. 1. Procurement Routes 1. Which procurement platform(s) does the Council use for IT and cyber security procurements (for example Contracts Finder, Proactis, YORtender, Chest, Delta eSourcing or similar)? 2. Which framework agreements does the Council typically use for cyber security services (for example G-Cloud, DOS, CCS frameworks, Bloom or equivalent)? 2. Penetration Testing and Security Testing Please provide: * Current supplier name(s) * Contract start date * Contract expiry date * Contract value or annual spend * Procurement route or framework used * Whether services include infrastructure, web application, mobile, cloud, CHECK, IT Health Check or other penetration testing services 3. Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus Please provide: * Current supplier name * Contract value or annual spend * Contract start date * Contract expiry date * Procurement route or framework used 4. ISO 27001 Please provide details of any external supplier used for: * ISO 27001 consultancy * ISO 27001 implementation support * ISO 27001 internal audit * ISO 27001 certification preparation Including: * Supplier name * Contract value or annual spend * Contract expiry date * Procurement route used 5. PCI DSS Please provide details of any external supplier used for: * PCI DSS consultancy * PCI DSS QSA services * PCI DSS penetration testing * PCI DSS compliance support Including: * Supplier name * Contract value or annual spend * Contract expiry date * Procurement route used 6. Incident Response and Digital Forensics Please provide details of any external supplier used for: * Incident response retainers * Digital forensics retainers * DFIR services * Cyber breach response services Including: * Supplier name * Contract value or annual spend * Contract expiry date * Procurement route used 7. Future Procurement Activity Where known, please provide: * The expected renewal or re-procurement date for each service * Whether the Council currently expects to re-tender, extend or recompete the contract 8. Relevant Departments Please provide the name of the department or team responsible for: * Cyber Security / Information Security * ICT / IT Services * Procurement and Commercial Management
Published: 15 September 2026
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It is my understanding the new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) replaces the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from April 2026, is delivered through local authorities. Please could you provide the following information for the period 1 April 2026 to [date]: 1. The total number of applications received for support under the Crisis and Resilience Fund, broken down by month (April 2026, May 2026, June 2026, July 2026, and August 2026 up to the end of the month as there are 20 working days to complete this request). 2. Of these applications, the number that were: a) Approved b) Refused c) Withdrawn or not proceeded with (if this is recorded as a separate category) 3. Where held separately, the figures in (1) and (2) broken down by type of support applied for (e.g. Crisis Payments vs. Housing Payments vs. any other CRF-funded payment type your authority operates). 4. The average and median processing time (in working days) between an application being received and a decision being made. 5. The total value of payments made under the CRF over the same period. If a monthly breakdown for any of the above is not readily available or would exceed the cost limit, I would be grateful for the total figures for the full period instead.
Published: 15 September 2026
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Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would be grateful if you could provide the following information relating to the Council's street cleansing fleet and operations: A list of all road sweepers owned or leased by the Council with a GVW of under 4 tonnes, including make and model. For leased sweepers, the lease starts and end dates (month and year only). For owned sweepers: Year purchased. Planned replacement date or details of any fleet renewal programme. Confirm whether street cleansing services are carried out in-house or by a contractor. If contracted out, provide the name of the contractor.
Published: 15 September 2026
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I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations about the use of NON-glyphosate weed control products and methods, their efficacy and viability for use in local authority settings. The queries are as follows: 1. Do you or your contractors currently use any of the following NON-glyphosate-based weed control measures? Manual Weeding Mechanical weeding Mulching Cultural control Vinegar/ acetic acid Hot foam Non-glyphosate chemical products (please name) Pelargonic acid Hot lances/ weed guns (using flame) Weed barriers/ membranes Hot water Electricity Steam Letting weeds grow Other (please name) 2. For the same list, please identify which, if any, products you or your contractors have considered or trialled, but REJECTED giving the reasons why in each case. Manual Weeding Mechanical weeding Mulching Cultural control Vinegar/ acetic acid Hot foam Non-glyphosate chemical products (please name) Pelargonic acid Hot lances/ weed guns (using flame) Weed barriers/ membranes Hot water Electricity Steam Letting weeds grow Other (please name) If so, please outline: the nature of the infringement of each incident and whether it led to of the following: Improvement Notice Fee for Intervention Prosecution
Published: 15 September 2026
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Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide information regarding the council's use of surveillance and investigatory powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA). Please provide the information covering every financial year since 2019, and up to the present (including the current financial year to date). Please tell me: 1. Authorisation Volumes The total number of RIPA/IPA authorisations granted by the council in each specified financial year, broken down by power type: * Directed Surveillance * Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) * Acquisition of Communications Data 1. Offence / Activity Categories For each granted authorisation, the general category of offence or matter being investigated (e.g., housing fraud, anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, trading standards/underage sales, benefit fraud, license breaches). Note: To avoid identifying individuals, broad operational categories are requested rather than specific case file names or addresses. 1. Surveillance Tactics & Deployed Means An overview of the generic tactics or equipment deployed under these authorisations (e.g., static camera observation, mobile visual surveillance, social media monitoring, covert audio recording, undercover officers/informants). 1. Magistrates’ Court Approvals The number of applications submitted to the Magistrates’ Court for judicial approval, and how many were: * Approved * Refused * Approved with modifications 1. Non-RIPA / Covert Activity Whether the council maintains a central register or log for non-RIPA surveillance (e.g., covert monitoring or social media research conducted outside formal RIPA authorisations due to falling below statutory crime thresholds). If so, please state how many non-RIPA surveillance operations were logged during the specified period. 1. IPCO Oversight & Policy * The date of the most recent inspection or review carried out by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO). * The date your internal RIPA Policy was last reviewed or updated by elected members/committee. Guidance on Disclosures (Section 40 & Section 31): To assist in processing this request within the statutory cost and time limits: * If full details of an individual operation cannot be disclosed to prevent identifying living individuals (Section 40) or harming ongoing law enforcement investigations (Section 31), please provide aggregated numeric data or generalized categorisations. * If any individual question exceeds the cost limits under Section 12, please prioritize Questions 1, 2, and 4.
Published: 11 September 2026
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Please provide, for each financial year from 2020/21 to 2024/25 inclusive: (a) the total value of Section 106 affordable housing contributions spent; (b) what that expenditure was applied to, identifying in each case whether it funded the delivery of affordable units, a grant or payment to a registered provider or housing association, land acquisition, or another purpose; and (c) where units were delivered, the number of units and their tenure.
Published: 11 September 2026
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I am seeking information relating to outstanding and uncollected business rates within your authority area over the past five financial years: 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26. For each financial year, please provide: 1. The total value of non-domestic rates/business rates arrears outstanding as at 31 March. 2. The total amount of business rates written off during that financial year as irrecoverable or otherwise uncollectable. 3. Where recorded, the number of individual business rates accounts with an outstanding balance at the end of each financial year. 4. Where possible, details of the 10 largest outstanding business rates debts at the end of each financial year, including: o the name of the ratepayer or company; o the property address to which the debt relates; o the outstanding amount; and o the financial year or years to which the debt relates, where recorded. 5. The total amount of business rates due during each financial year which had not been collected by 31 March of that same year, before any subsequent recovery or write-off action.
Published: 11 September 2026
