Category: News

We are writing to formally update you on upcoming changes at Citizens Advice Hillingdon.  Following a recent tender exercise, we will no longer receive core or mental health funding from Hillingdon Council. The new contract for Information, Advice, Guidance, and Well-being support has been awarded to the Hillingdon Advice Partnership, led by Age UK Hillingdon.

We are working closely with the new provider to ensure a smooth transition, making sure no client is left without essential support. These changes will take effect from 2nd June 2025.

As you know, Citizens Advice Hillingdon has proudly served the borough for many years, providing impartial, confidential advice to thousands of residents. From 2nd June, we will continue to deliver our specialist advice projects in key areas, including:

• Employment Advice Services
• Macmillan Cancer Support Services
• Outreach services at Hillingdon Food Bank
• The Workwell Programme

Hillingdon Council is set to modernise its parking enforcement by purchasing a vehicle fitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to help clamp down on unauthorised parking. 

The council’s Cabinet gave the green light for the vehicle to be purchased.  

The decision follows a successful 26-day trial of the technology in July 2024, which saw a vehicle deployed across three of the borough’s wards (Heathrow Villages, Uxbridge and Northwood Hills) to detect vehicles parking in the council’s parking management schemes without the correct permits or exemptions. During the trial, 602 different streets were visited, more than 7,500 checks were made and 62 PCNs issued. 

The new technology allows Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) to carry out more checks across a wider area in less time. The ANPR cameras, linked to the council’s parking permit database, highlight potential parking contraventions to the CEOs, who can then follow up with a manual verification and check for valid parking approvals, such as visitor permits and blue badges. Not all alerts result in a Penalty Charge Notice. 

The technology will also provide additional benefits by allowing CEOs to help with the enforcement of the council’s Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to stop taxis and private hire vehicles waiting in residential streets near Heathrow Airport (unless they are collecting or dropping off passengers in those streets or are based or live there) which came into force in February. 

As a result of the effectiveness of this technology and to create a more sustainable parking enforcement service by reducing fixed camera maintenance costs, the council’s Cabinet also agreed for some fixed School Keep Clear (SKC) cameras to be decommissioned. Instead, the ANPR cars will be deployed to monitor adherence at school sites across the borough and maintain road safety around schools and surrounding streets, with SKC cameras maintained in the 10 locations with the highest levels of detected non-compliance. 

Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, said: “We’re committed to being a digital-enabled, modern council, which delivers value for money for residents.  

“We’re always looking for ways to reshape services, and following the ANPR trial last summer it clearly showed that this technology can be a more effective and efficient way to carry out parking enforcement activity, including SKC areas and our new PSPO.    

“The rollout will support our CEOs to cover larger areas and provide greater flexibility in their deployment to busy areas, ensuring parking remains accessible, fair and our roads are safe for all users.” 

For more information about parking in Hillingdon, visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/parking.

ERA attended a Community Resilience Workshop held in March this year hosted by LB Hillingdon, in partnership with H4All and the Hillingdon Federation of Community Associations. Presentations were made by the London Fire Brigade and the Environment Agency.

The aim is to develop a Community Resilience Directory to support the local authority and emergency responders in identifying community assets and individuals who can assist during emergencies. If you or an organisation you are involved in have resources, for example storage space, useful equipment , space to house/feed displaced persons, please complete the Community Resilience Mapping Survey using the link:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ebasqoHD-0izIPnVge6Uj6_UVAyBaYxOg_UYYpLTEdxURjFaOFNRUlBWOVFCWDFVQkhBWjVIR1JMVC4u

Whilst the survey is open until the 30^th September 2025 it would be helpful if you would complete it sooner rather than later. Please pass this information onto as many other organisations that you think may be able to help as you can.

Hillingdon Council are proposing a change to garden waste collection service to make it more sustainable.  The proposed change would see the introduction of a £70 charge for 2025/26 for the collection of a household’s garden waste. The charge would support the running costs of the service and ensure it’s paid for by those using it – rather than the cost being shared by all taxpayers, including those without gardens.

Garden waste collection service would continue to offer residents:
• better value for money than neighbouring boroughs through a cheaper rate per collection
• weekly collections in spring, summer and autumn
• greater capacity of collected garden waste than other boroughs.
Residents without a subscription would still be able to take their garden waste to civic amenity sites for free.
Have your say  https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/garden-waste-consultation
The consultation is open until Monday 31 March, and a decision will be made in the spring.
If you or anyone you know would like a paper copy of this form, email customerengagement@hillingdon.gov.uk or call 01895 277038