court Tag

Plymouth City Council fined £8000 for WEEE breach

Plymouth City Council has been fined £8,000 for allowing unauthorised firms to remove and sell unwanted computers from its waste plants. The council breached the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) by letting firms take computers and other electronic items without checking that they were bona fide recyclers. The Environment Agency took the council [...]

Three jailed over £1.3m adult learning contracts scam

Three people have been jailed over an adult learning skills contracts scam in Shropshire. Paul Kent, 46, of Telford, admitted receiving about £300,000 in kickbacks from Learning Skills Council contracts worth £1.3m, which he granted to his co-defendants. He was jailed for four and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court. Silinder Singh Sidhu, of [...]

Is the Council using ‘Big Brother’ spies?

Councils stand accused of the use of covert surveillance powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) — designed to tackle terrorism – to tackle petty crimes such as noise nuisance and fly-tipping. But is Rochdale Borough Council doing so? Despite a Freedom of Information request by pressure group Big Brother Watch, Rochdale Borough [...]

Bungling Council Orders 20 Dead People To Court For Not Paying Council Tax

A local council has been forced to apologise after sending council tax bills and court orders to 20 people who have passed away. The families of the deceased were distraught to receive court summonses addressed to their loved ones – some of whom died 10 years ago. Croydon Council in South London admitted the mistake, [...]

Taxpayers Could Be Hit With County Council £60k Legal Bill

TAXPAYERS may have to foot a near £60,000 legal bill for a High Court battle between Notts County Council and its waste contractor. A Freedom of Information request by the Nottingham Post shows the council has racked up almost £47,000 in costs for counsel in the case as well as up to £12,000 on solicitors’ [...]

Council Could Face Judicial Review Over Dalry Quarry

THE COUNCIL could be forced into a Court of Session defence action over a controversial quarrying operation. Accusations of a “serious breach of planning law” have been levelled at the authority following an in principle agreement for ten houses to be built on the former Glebe in front of Dalry Secondary School. And Dalry Housing [...]

Bristol Parking Meter Repair Man Jailed Over Cash Theft

A parking meter repairer who pocketed £70,000 from machines he worked on has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Arthur Blay, of Blackwood, Caerphilly, operated the scam from 2002 to 2008 while employed by Bristol City Council. The 48-year-old was caught when investigators marked coins with a liquid which is only visible under ultra-violet light. His [...]