Latest news with #HammersmithandFulham
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
'Stasi-like' Labour council fines stunned resident £1,000 for putting his bins out a few hours early
A Labour council who fined a resident £1,000 for putting his bins out a few hours early has been accused of acting like the 'Stasi'. Clyde Strachan, 37, decided to help refuse collectors by placing his rubbish outside his West Kensington home shortly before midday in May. He then went away for a week and when he returned was faced with an 'environmental enforcement notice', which demanded he make contact with Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The engineer then received an £1,000 fixed penalty notice, stating: 'There was one large box, six bags of waste, and one food bin deposited on the pavement and left. 'It isn't collection day so it shouldn't be there. 'There is no formal right to appeal, however the council will accept representations from you within seven days.' Mr Strachan told The Telegraph: 'I spoke on the phone to one of the council officers and said I was willing to receive a warning but felt a £1,000 fine was excessive. 'I said I had put the bins out early as I was not available the next day. It was an honest mistake. I didn't feel as though I needed to grovel, but it felt like that was what he was after.' The fine has sparked criticism towards the council's 'law enforcement team'. Likening it to the 'Stasi' - the secret police who helped maintain communist power in East Germany through spying and violence. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary said: 'Instead of cracking down on genuine anti-social behaviour, the state tries to reassert itself by punishing well-meaning people for tiny infringements. 'This huge fine for putting the bins out a few hours early veers into Stasi-like control of people's lives. This man was clearly doing the right thing in the circumstances.' The fine has since been retracted. A council spokesman said: 'Mr Strachan asked for a review of the FPN on May 28 when he let us know that the reason he put the rubbish out early was that he had been going on holiday the following day. 'The following day, the council froze the fine pending a review. 'We have since cancelled the FPN as we agree that Mr Strachan made an honest mistake and is not a persistent fly-tipper.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
It's time meddling councils were put in their place
The days when a law-abiding Englishman could go through his life barely interacting with the state beyond the policeman and the postman are long gone. Even so, it is dispiriting to see the eagerness with which minor government apparatchiks seize every opportunity to infringe on personal freedoms and impose inconveniences on the population. Labour-controlled Hammersmith and Fulham Council's decision to fine a resident £1,000 for putting out his bins a few hours early before travelling away from home is a perfect example of the type of small-minded bureaucracy that permeates life in modern Britain. It fits all too neatly into a schema containing the proliferation of anti-driver Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph zones imposed against the wishes of residents, the excessive taxation of those who dare to own a second home, and the impression that local officials are all too willing to interfere and meddle in the daily lives of their residents with little sense of self-restraint. Hammersmith and Fulham has taken this logic further than most, with uniformed enforcement teams patrolling the borough and issuing fines 'day and night, seven days a week', without providing the safety and security of police officers. But establishing a specialist unit of jobsworths is merely a logical continuation of a broader trend across the country as a whole. A stranger arriving in Britain for the first time could be forgiven for believing that the primary role of local government is to restrict choice and wage war on convenience. It is hard to otherwise explain the sheer extent to which councils delight in imposing their whims on residents, and the sheer number of rules weighing down daily interactions with the public sector. Rather than viewing their role as providing services to the taxpayers who fund them, however, it seems to be that councils see their job as ensuring adherence to the most rigid interpretation of the rules possible, enforcing ideological conformity with ambitions such as net zero or biodiversity improvement, and – potentially – levying fines to help balance the books. The result is an unending war on convenience, and ever greater state intrusions into daily life that should rapidly be reined in. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Council reprimanded after exposing sensitive data
A west London council has been reprimanded after personal details of more than 6,500 people including "sensitive" data about children was left online for almost two years. Hammersmith and Fulham Council inadvertently published the data when responding to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request in October 2021. The local authority's response included an excel spreadsheet with 35 hidden workbooks, 10 of which contained personal details, which was not discovered until November 2023. A council spokesperson said the error was fixed as soon as they were notified and staff are no longer allowed to supply information using the same format. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said the council's response to the FoI was uploaded to its own online disclosure log and provided to the website What Do They Know? (WDTK), which the request was made through. WDTK published the response on its own site in December 2021. The breach was not identified until WDTK completed a review of its website, after which it informed the council. The information was taken down from both sites. According to the ICO, a total of 6,528 people were affected, 2,342 of whom were children. While the adult data set included council employees, former employees and agency staff, the personal information belonging to children was described as sensitive in nature and related to the placement of looked-after children in the council's care. The ICO said children's personal data is considered "deserving of specific protection" and in this case, of particular concern was the personal data belonging to 96 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. There is no evidence the data was inappropriately accessed, processed or shared. The ICO noted a number of remedial steps taken by the council, including that redaction and disclosure guidance has been updated and training completed with the relevant team. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Council reprimanded after exposing sensitive data
A west London council has been reprimanded after personal details of more than 6,500 people including "sensitive" data about children was left online for almost two years. Hammersmith and Fulham Council inadvertently published the data when responding to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request in October 2021. The local authority's response included an excel spreadsheet with 35 hidden workbooks, 10 of which contained personal details, which was not discovered until November 2023. A council spokesperson said the error was fixed as soon as they were notified and staff are no longer allowed to supply information using the same format. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said the council's response to the FoI was uploaded to its own online disclosure log and provided to the website What Do They Know? (WDTK), which the request was made through. WDTK published the response on its own site in December 2021. The breach was not identified until WDTK completed a review of its website, after which it informed the council. The information was taken down from both sites. According to the ICO, a total of 6,528 people were affected, 2,342 of whom were children. While the adult data set included council employees, former employees and agency staff, the personal information belonging to children was described as sensitive in nature and related to the placement of looked-after children in the council's care. The ICO said children's personal data is considered "deserving of specific protection" and in this case, of particular concern was the personal data belonging to 96 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. There is no evidence the data was inappropriately accessed, processed or shared. The ICO noted a number of remedial steps taken by the council, including that redaction and disclosure guidance has been updated and training completed with the relevant team. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to
BBC News
29-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
London council reprimanded after exposing sensitive data
A west London council has been reprimanded after personal details of more than 6,500 people including "sensitive" data about children was left online for almost two and Fulham Council inadvertently published the data when responding to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request in October local authority's response included an excel spreadsheet with 35 hidden workbooks, 10 of which contained personal details, which was not discovered until November 2023.A council spokesperson said the error was fixed as soon as they were notified and staff are no longer allowed to supply information using the same format. 'Children in council care' The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said the council's response to the FoI was uploaded to its own online disclosure log and provided to the website What Do They Know? (WDTK), which the request was made published the response on its own site in December breach was not identified until WDTK completed a review of its website, after which it informed the council. The information was taken down from both to the ICO, a total of 6,528 people were affected, 2,342 of whom were the adult data set included council employees, former employees and agency staff, the personal information belonging to children was described as sensitive in nature and related to the placement of looked-after children in the council's care. The ICO said children's personal data is considered "deserving of specific protection" and in this case, of particular concern was the personal data belonging to 96 unaccompanied asylum-seeking is no evidence the data was inappropriately accessed, processed or ICO noted a number of remedial steps taken by the council, including that redaction and disclosure guidance has been updated and training completed with the relevant team.
