London council raked in £18,000 a day from drivers breaking traffic restrictions during repairs on single road
The amount generated equates to £55 per driver fined, however it's understood that not all PCNs issued would have been paid during the 17-day period the FOI related to, so the true figure is likely to be higher given the minimum expected to be paid by each driver is £65.
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Rhyl Journal
6 hours ago
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Breakdown of costs for failed Denbighshire Leisure sale
At a behind-closed-doors meeting on March 26, council members voted 25–18 in favour of selling DLL to the private sector. DLL was in the process of being sold to Merseyside-based private equity firm River Capital for £1.5 million, but on April 30, it was confirmed that the investor had pulled out. Denbighshire Council spent £62,000 on 'independent advice' relating to the failed sale of DLL. A FOI response has now revealed a detailed breakdown of those costs: Total: £62,000 The FOI also revealed internal project management costs, recorded from September to March, totalling £18,000. These costs, it was noted, would have been incurred regardless of the sale outcome. MORE NEWS: The long-awaited reopening of Rhyl water park moves closer Staff from Legal, Human Resources, and Finance also contributed time to the project, but the council said it did not hold a record of their specific hours. An FOI statement said: "Although the proposal that generated this advice will not now proceed, much of that advice will be relevant to alternative models for the company and is not therefore an abortive cost. "It should also be noted that this advice was sought in anticipation of a significant capital receipt of £1.5 million to be received by the Council for the sale of the shares and the revised contractual relationship would not only have prevented existing costs from increasing, but would result in the fee paid by the Council for the provision of leisure services reducing in each year of its operation over a ten year period by 10 per cent. "This 10 per cent reduction in year two would be £152,000 increasing cumulatively to a reduction of £930,000 by year 10."
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Leader Live
REVEALED: How much North Wales Police spends on drones
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The Courier
2 days ago
- The Courier
Fife school embroiled in child abuse scandal was 'house of horrors' says mum of ex-pupil
The mother of a pupil at a Fife residential school has described it as 'a house of horrors'. The woman's son John was a pupil at Starley Hall School in Burntisland in 2000 and 2001. She told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that John, who died in February this year, was in fear for his life there after being physically and psychologically abused. She said the teenager was restrained, choked and had his face rubbed in vomit. Four men appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2019, accused of physical and sexual abuse of 34 children at Starley Hall, a school for children with additional support needs. However, all were acquitted following trial. Despite that, Claire, a pseudonym, branded her son's treatment at the hands of some staff 'dehumanising'. She said her concerns began before John even started at the school. 'On the day we visited one of the young boys came up to him and said 'you don't want to come here',' she said. John, also a pseudonym, gave evidence in the 2019 high court case. And the statement he gave to police about abuse at Starley Hall School was read out to the inquiry. He was sent to Starley Hall as he had dyslexia, writing problems and poor memory. He was labelled disruptive and placed on a supervision order. John's statement told how he received regular 'back-handers' to the face from staff. And an incident between him and another pupil let to staff seriously assaulting him. 'I was restrained on the floor by four members of staff,' his statement said. 'One kneed me in the ribs, which made me vomit on the floor. 'They put my head in the vomit so I couldn't breathe. 'And I was choking on the vomit still in my mouth.' In another incident, a teacher restricted his breathing until he blacked out. John's evidence told how he wrote to his mother several times, telling her what was happening to him. However, staff did not post his letters. In 2019, John described Starley Hall as 'the place that ruined my life'. And he added: 'I want these people to be held accountable.' Claire told the inquiry the result of the court case sent her son into a spiral of anxiety and depression. She later sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Fife Council asking for a Starley Hall inspection report from 1998, just two years before John attended. It revealed some of the accommodation was neglected, resulting in registration for those parts not being approved. It also said the number of incidents related to behaviour, accidents or bullying was a cause for concern. 'I find it beyond words that this house of horrors was allowed to exist,' Claire said.
