West Oxfordshire council defends four litter fines in decade
Liam Walker, a Conservative councillor on the council, said the low level of fines was "astonishing" but he was also shocked at the level of littering."It's not just about enforcement from the council... and government and police, it's all also about education - teaching people not to be throwing litter in this day and age," he said.Councils were given powers to issue larger fines of up to £500 for littering in 2023.Tracy Adams is part of the group Thame Wombles and does a litter pick most days, collecting as much as eight bags of rubbish at a time. "To make an example of a few people, it just might stop others doing it," she said."[Littering is] just pure laziness from people."
The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) warned that littering has a serious impact on nature.Barbara Polonara, community wildlife officer, said small mammals like hedgehogs were at risk.She said: "There's a huge issue where they get stuck in a lot of different litter, especially when they're looking for food, they can't free themselves and then they die."When asked about the level of fines handed out, West Oxfordshire District Council said it did recognise the importance of keeping public spaces clean.A spokesperson said: "Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for littering can only be issued when individuals are directly observed committing an offence, which can limit enforcement opportunities. "In many cases, litter found in public areas does not include identifying information, making it difficult to take formal action."
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The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why parents of summer-born children face ‘unfair' postcode lottery in school admissions
Families who want to delay their summer-born child from starting primary school are facing an 'unfair' postcode lottery, it has been claimed. Parents who ask for a delayed start in Reception for a child born between April and August have varying success depending on where they live, an analysis has found, with some councils refusing more than half of parents' requests. Figures – obtained using freedom of information (FoI) requests – show some councils have turned down the majority of parents' requests to defer their children starting school. Meanwhile, many councils approved 100 per cent of requests for delayed entry over a three-year period. Campaigners and parents are calling for greater consistency across England for families who do not want their child to start primary school almost a year younger than some of their classmates – as some families worry their child is not ready emotionally or physically. It comes amid concerns about a decline in school readiness among children starting Reception, with some arguing Covid-19 lockdowns have exacerbated developmental delays. Children in England usually start primary school in the September after they turn four, but parents of children born between April 1 and August 31 can request to delay entry to Reception by a year. A child does not reach 'compulsory school age' until the term following their fifth birthday. Department for Education (DfE) guidance, which was updated in 2023, says admissions authorities are expected to decide whether a summer-born child can be admitted out of their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1 – based on 'the child's best interests'. It should be 'rare' for a council to refuse a parent's request, and the government believes it is 'rarely in a child's best interests' to miss a year of education by starting in Year 1 instead of Reception, it adds. Nearly three in five councils in England – 91 out of 153 – provided full data to PA on the total number of requests from parents of summer-born children to delay Reception over three years: from September 2022 to September 2023, September 2023 to September 2024, and September 2024 to September 2025. Of these, 86 councils provided a full breakdown of the requests which were refused over the three years. The figures show: Lambeth Council in London refused more than two in three requests from parents to delay Reception entry from September 2024 to September this year. Seventeen requests were made for summer-born children and 12 were refused. A spokesman for the council said all decisions are 'carefully considered on a case-by-case basis, with the child's best interests at the centre of the process'. But he said evidence suggests remaining within their chronological age group 'generally supports better long-term outcomes'. Lincolnshire County Council refused nearly two in three (64 per cent) of requests from parents to delay the start of school in a year. They received 87 requests to delay Reception from 2023 to 2024, and 56 were refused. But in the following year, only 13 out of 89 requests for a delayed school start from 2024 to 2025 were declined. Matthew Clayton, head of education support at the council, said it had 'altered' the way it deals with requests for a delayed school start for summer-born children following a change in guidance from the DfE in 2023. He added: 'As a result, the likelihood of requests being granted for 2024/25 onwards have been more aligned to the national picture.' Southampton City Council refused more than half of requests from parents to delay the start of school in a year. They received 23 requests to delay Reception from September 2022 to September 2023, and 13 were refused. Councillor Amanda Barnes-Andrews, cabinet member for children and learning at the council, said the DfE's process for education outside of the normal age group is followed which 'requires reviewing every request individually to consider the impact to the child'. More than two in five (45 per cent) of the councils which provided data on the number of refusals – 39 out of 86 – said they did not turn down any requests from parents of summer-born children to delay entry to Reception over the three years. This includes Leicestershire County Council, which neighbours Lincolnshire, where 139 applications were received during the period and none of them were refused. Hertfordshire County Council – which automatically processes summer-born applications – received 766 requests over the three years, and West Sussex County Council recorded 293 requests over the same period and none of them were turned down. The figures are only based on requests to councils so the numbers could vary as they do not include all requests made directly to academies and voluntary-aided schools, which are their own admission authorities. Bianca Sumpter applied to Lambeth Council to request a delay in her son Rumo starting Reception in September 2024 as she did not feel he was ready for school as he had speech delay, separation anxiety and was still napping in the daytime, but the request was refused. Rumo was born on August 26 in 2020 – two weeks before his due date – with a kidney condition which led to two operations in the first year of his life, and Mrs Sumpter said Rumo did not have much 'socialisation' due to his illness and the Covid-19 pandemic. The 43-year-old from London said: 'You are making the decision because it's best for your child, and you just feel so helpless that they're just taking this decision out of your hands when they do not know your child. 'It has been really awful. It has been really stressful. 'I don't want Rumo to go through school thinking this is awful. I want him to enjoy education. I want him to come out of it feeling that he can achieve whatever he wants to achieve. 'But this thing is putting barriers in place to say 'well because you're born on this day, you are probably always going to be an underachiever'.' Mrs Sumpter said the family faced a year of uncertainty after their request was refused by the council and they decided to keep Rumo in nursery last September instead of enrolling him in Reception at a local authority school. In the summer term, Rumo was offered some settling in sessions in Reception at their preferred school and the teachers concluded he was not ready to enter Year 1 in September. The council has now finally agreed to let the school hold Rumo back so he starts in Reception next month. Mrs Sumpter added: 'There is this massive disparity between councils and boroughs. You're just in the lap of the gods in terms of what that specific council says.' Southwark Council, which neighbours Lambeth, told PA it approves all requests from parents who want their summer-born child to be admitted to Reception a year later in their community schools. The mother-of-three said: 'I could literally walk there [to Southwark] in seven minutes. It's ridiculous that we've had to fight. 'Surely we want the outcome to be that children are achieving better educationally, but also they're achieving better socially and emotionally. That's where we should be getting our children to. 'Not just saying 'well this is a cut-off day and there's no choice and your child has to be in school' because then we just have generations of children who are unhappy and uneducated because they feel emotionally out of control.' Pauline McDonagh Hull, spokeswoman for The Summer Born Campaign, told PA: 'Based on current legislation, what's happening with this postcode lottery is completely unfair. 'It's unfair because some parents have more knowledge about the law and their rights, and some parents have greater capacity to fight if a fight is needed. 'Some parents are lucky and they're in an area where it just happens naturally, or the school advises them about it so that they can have the choice. 'I just don't know how, year after year after year, the government stands by and does nothing about it.' The campaign group has called on the DfE to update the School Admissions Code – which is statutory guidance which schools and local authorities in England must follow – to give parents of summer-born children a 'legal right' to enrol their children in Reception at the age of five. Ms McDonagh Hull added: 'The government has not followed through on its promise to make sure that the School Admissions Code gives all summer-born children the automatic right to an uninterrupted full education, if or when their parents decide to enrol them in school at compulsory school age. 'Other parents might go the private route if they can afford it. Other parents will choose homeschooling. 'Other parents will just cave – their child either enters Reception class at age four, or they enter Year 1 at age five if there's a space available.' Tammy Campbell, visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the FoI results show accessing deferred entry for summer-born children is 'far from equitable'. She told PA: 'The 'right to request' policy is playing out inequitably according to both local area and family background factors. 'This is not effective in ensuring that the children most likely to benefit from deferred entry are accessing the option.' Dr Campbell said her research has shown it is potentially more 'advantaged' families who are most likely to have their summer-born children start Reception a year later. 'Children not registered for free school meals and those from families with English as a first language are more likely to defer,' she added. Margaret Mulholland, Send and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'The government guidance is pretty clear that it should be rare for admissions authorities to refuse a parent's request but in practice the rules don't appear to be applied consistently. 'Our view is that decisions should always be in the best interests of children – and that may be a matter of ensuring there is the right support in place rather than delaying the child's entry to school. 'However, whatever approach is taken it does need a clear set of expectations that support those interests to be consistently applied so that families know exactly what to expect and it isn't a postcode lottery.' A DfE spokeswoman said: 'High and rising standards are at the heart of this government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive. 'The government's guidance is clear that it's rarely in a child's best interests to miss a year of their education, and so it should be rare for a deferral request to be refused. 'We recognise parents' experiences can still vary and continue to support individual admissions authorities with their decision making.'
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Parents of summer-born children face ‘unfair' postcode lottery in admissions
Families who want to delay their summer-born child from starting primary school are facing an 'unfair' postcode lottery, with some councils refusing more than half of parents' requests, it has been suggested. Parents who ask for a delayed start in Reception for a child born between April and August have varying success depending on where they live, an analysis has found. Figures – obtained by the PA news agency using freedom of information (FoI) requests – show some councils have turned down the majority of parents' requests to defer their children starting school. Meanwhile, many councils approved 100% of requests for delayed entry over a three-year period. Campaigners and parents are calling for greater consistency across England for families who do not want their child to start primary school almost a year younger than some of their classmates – as some families worry their child is not ready emotionally or physically. It comes amid concerns about a decline in school readiness among children starting Reception, with some arguing Covid-19 lockdowns have exacerbated developmental delays. Children in England usually start primary school in the September after they turn four, but parents of children born between April 1 and August 31 can request to delay entry to Reception by a year. A child does not reach 'compulsory school age' until the term following their fifth birthday. Department for Education (DfE) guidance, which was updated in 2023, says admissions authorities are expected to decide whether a summer-born child can be admitted out of their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1 – based on 'the child's best interests'. It should be 'rare' for a council to refuse a parent's request, and the Government believes it is 'rarely in a child's best interests' to miss a year of education by starting in Year 1 instead of Reception, it adds. Nearly three in five councils in England – 91 out of 153 – provided full data to PA on the total number of requests from parents of summer-born children to delay Reception over three years: from September 2022 to September 2023, September 2023 to September 2024, and September 2024 to September 2025. Of these, 86 councils provided a full breakdown of the requests which were refused over the three years. The figures show: – Lambeth Council in London refused more than two in three requests from parents to delay Reception entry from September 2024 to September this year. Seventeen requests were made for summer-born children and 12 were refused. A spokesman for the council said all decisions are 'carefully considered on a case-by-case basis, with the child's best interests at the centre of the process'. But he said evidence suggests remaining within their chronological age group 'generally supports better long-term outcomes'. – Lincolnshire County Council refused nearly two in three (64%) of requests from parents to delay the start of school in a year. They received 87 requests to delay Reception from 2023 to 2024, and 56 were refused. But in the following year, only 13 out of 89 requests for a delayed school start from 2024 to 2025 were declined. Matthew Clayton, head of education support at the council, said it had 'altered' the way it deals with requests for a delayed school start for summer-born children following a change in guidance from the DfE in 2023. He added: 'As a result, the likelihood of requests being granted for 2024/25 onwards have been more aligned to the national picture.' – Southampton City Council refused more than half of requests from parents to delay the start of school in a year. They received 23 requests to delay Reception from September 2022 to September 2023, and 13 were refused. Councillor Amanda Barnes-Andrews, cabinet member for children and learning at the council, said the DfE's process for education outside of the normal age group is followed which 'requires reviewing every request individually to consider the impact to the child'. – More than two in five (45%) of the councils which provided data on the number of refusals – 39 out of 86 – said they did not turn down any requests from parents of summer-born children to delay entry to Reception over the three years. This includes Leicestershire County Council, which neighbours Lincolnshire, where 139 applications were received during the period and none of them were refused. – Hertfordshire County Council – which automatically processes summer-born applications – received 766 requests over the three years, and West Sussex County Council recorded 293 requests over the same period and none of them were turned down. The figures are only based on requests to councils so the numbers could vary as they do not include all requests made directly to academies and voluntary-aided schools, which are their own admission authorities. Bianca Sumpter applied to Lambeth Council to request a delay in her son Rumo starting Reception in September 2024 as she did not feel he was ready for school as he had speech delay, separation anxiety and was still napping in the daytime, but the request was refused. Rumo was born on August 26 in 2020 – two weeks before his due date – with a kidney condition which led to two operations in the first year of his life, and Mrs Sumpter said Rumo did not have much 'socialisation' due to his illness and the Covid-19 pandemic. The 43-year-old from London told PA: 'You are making the decision because it's best for your child, and you just feel so helpless that they're just taking this decision out of your hands when they do not know your child. 'It has been really awful. It has been really stressful. 'I don't want Rumo to go through school thinking this is awful. I want him to enjoy education. I want him to come out of it feeling that he can achieve whatever he wants to achieve. 'But this thing is putting barriers in place to say 'well because you're born on this day, you are probably always going to be an underachiever'.' Mrs Sumpter said the family faced a year of uncertainty after their request was refused by the council and they decided to keep Rumo in nursery last September instead of enrolling him in Reception at a local authority school. In the summer term, Rumo was offered some settling in sessions in Reception at their preferred school and the teachers concluded he was not ready to enter Year 1 in September. The council has now finally agreed to let the school hold Rumo back so he starts in Reception next month. Mrs Sumpter added: 'There is this massive disparity between councils and boroughs. You're just in the lap of the gods in terms of what that specific council says.' Southwark Council, which neighbours Lambeth, told PA it approves all requests from parents who want their summer-born child to be admitted to Reception a year later in their community schools. The mother-of-three said: 'I could literally walk there [to Southwark] in seven minutes. It's ridiculous that we've had to fight. 'Surely we want the outcome to be that children are achieving better educationally, but also they're achieving better socially and emotionally. That's where we should be getting our children to. 'Not just saying 'well this is a cut-off day and there's no choice and your child has to be in school' because then we just have generations of children who are unhappy and uneducated because they feel emotionally out of control.' Pauline McDonagh Hull, spokeswoman for The Summer Born Campaign, told PA: 'Based on current legislation, what's happening with this postcode lottery is completely unfair. 'It's unfair because some parents have more knowledge about the law and their rights, and some parents have greater capacity to fight if a fight is needed. 'Some parents are lucky and they're in an area where it just happens naturally, or the school advises them about it so that they can have the choice. 'I just don't know how, year after year after year, the Government stands by and does nothing about it.' The campaign group has called on the DfE to update the School Admissions Code – which is statutory guidance which schools and local authorities in England must follow – to give parents of summer-born children a 'legal right' to enrol their children in Reception at the age of five. Ms McDonagh Hull added: 'The Government has not followed through on its promise to make sure that the School Admissions Code gives all summer-born children the automatic right to an uninterrupted full education, if or when their parents decide to enrol them in school at compulsory school age. 'Other parents might go the private route if they can afford it. Other parents will choose homeschooling. 'Other parents will just cave – their child either enters Reception class at age four, or they enter Year 1 at age five if there's a space available.' Tammy Campbell, visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the FoI results show accessing deferred entry for summer-born children is 'far from equitable'. She told PA: 'The 'right to request' policy is playing out inequitably according to both local area and family background factors. 'This is not effective in ensuring that the children most likely to benefit from deferred entry are accessing the option.' Dr Campbell said her research has shown it is potentially more 'advantaged' families who are most likely to have their summer-born children start Reception a year later. 'Children not registered for free school meals and those from families with English as a first language are more likely to defer,' she added. Margaret Mulholland, Send and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'The Government guidance is pretty clear that it should be rare for admissions authorities to refuse a parent's request but in practice the rules don't appear to be applied consistently. 'Our view is that decisions should always be in the best interests of children – and that may be a matter of ensuring there is the right support in place rather than delaying the child's entry to school. 'However, whatever approach is taken it does need a clear set of expectations that support those interests to be consistently applied so that families know exactly what to expect and it isn't a postcode lottery.' A DfE spokeswoman said: 'High and rising standards are at the heart of this Government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive. 'The Government's guidance is clear that it's rarely in a child's best interests to miss a year of their education, and so it should be rare for a deferral request to be refused. 'We recognise parents' experiences can still vary and continue to support individual admissions authorities with their decision making.'
Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How Britain's tired towns can recover their sense of civic pride
SIR – Sadly, Marguerite Beard-Gould (Letters, July 31) is right to contrast Canada's 'immaculate, tree-lined streets, free of weeds and litter' with those in Britain. Neglect of our environment is now commonplace, and swathes of the public treat it as a tip. With a few exceptions, civic pride has gone down the drain. Local authorities blame their limited approach on budgetary constraints – but another problem is simply apathy, and the increasingly widespread attitude that 'it's not my problem'. The consequence is that we are getting a reputation for being a dirty country, with our streets and wider surroundings being rewilded by default. The Government needs to get a grip on this, and take measures to ensure that we can be proud of these surroundings again. Barry Bright Storrington, West Sussex SIR – I recently visited Dovedale in Derbyshire. It is an area of extraordinary beauty with breathtaking views. However, I was horrified, when walking early in the mornings, to be confronted with the worst littering I have ever seen. Buses arrive regularly over the weekend, as families come to picnic. Dirty nappies, picnic detritus and more are left behind. The National Trust tries to clear the area with the help of locals, but what sort of country have we become when it is considered acceptable just to dump and go? The River Dove is filled with plastic bottles and other such rubbish, and I hate to imagine the damage done to the amazing wildlife we encountered. There must be a way that this can be stopped. Catherine Stuart-Grumbar London SW9 SIR – Marguerite Beard-Gould should not despair. In Ware, Hertfordshire (population: 20,000), we have an enthusiastic, mainly retired team of about 12 volunteers, who maintain dozens of flowering planters that adorn our high street. Passers-by assure us that we make a major contribution to the town's feel-good factor. Many towns have similar teams, but realistically their future lies in increasing the number of individuals willing to work to maintain the community spirit. Central government may not encourage strong communities taking ownership of their surroundings, but that should not deter any of us from making a commitment. Alan D Thomas Ware, Hertfordshire SIR – Each spring in Hythe, the town is ablaze with hosts of daffodils, planted by volunteers. These are followed by baskets and flower boxes in the summer, fixed to fences along roads and on a roundabout. There are trees all around this beautiful, friendly town. Cheryl Winter Hythe, Kent
