August Report
Samford Division
Cllr Hall

Suffolk supports you with the cost of living
Column by Councillor Bobby Bennett – Cabinet Member for Equality and Communities
With the current cost of living pressures affecting us all, it has never been more important to ensure
that people are supported to receive the right help, when they need it. In Suffolk we have a number
of support services ready to help you, your friends, or your family, if you are struggling.
The Local Welfare Assistance Scheme helps those experiencing financial hardship, including access
to items like household furniture and white goods, fuel vouchers for electricity and gas top-ups,
supermarket vouchers, and contributions towards increasing costs during the winter months.
Local organisations across Suffolk can apply for support, on behalf of an individual or family. These
organisations include Citizens Advice Bureau, district and borough councils, health services and
voluntary organisations. A list of these organisations, who will assess your circumstances and submit
an application for you, is available at www.suffolk.gov.uk/FinancialHardship
If high energy bills are preventing you from putting the heating on, or you know any friends, family
or neighbours who need extra help heating their home, please contact Warm Homes Healthy People
on 03456 037 686 or email whhp@eastsuffolk.gov.uk
Healthy Start vouchers help parents of children under four years old, to access healthy food and
milk. Through the county’s Tackling Poverty Strategy, we have been working with health visitors, and
partners in the voluntary sector to support eligible families to accept the offer. We identified
potential barriers to families accessing services, such as language barriers, and developed
promotional materials to make the vouchers more accessible to families in need.
You may be entitled to Healthy Start Vouchers if you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a
child under four. To check if you can apply or to find out more speak to your Midwife or Health
Visitor or visit HealthyStart.nhs.uk
Visit www.suffolk.gov.uk/FinancialHardship where you can find a list of the support services in
Suffolk.
Blue Badge abuser prosecuted and ordered to pay £3,504
On August 11
th
, an individual was prosecuted as part of an initiative by Councils in Suffolk to tackle
the abuse of the Blue Badge scheme.
Peter Harrell, of Jasmine Road, Red Lodge, pleaded not guilty on 27 May 2022 at Ipswich Magistrates
to altering a blue badge with the intent to deceive, contrary to section 115 of the Road Traffic Act
1984. During a trial on 10 August 2022, Mr Harrell was found guilty and fined £660, and was also
ordered to pay investigatory and legal costs of £2778 and a surcharge of £66.
Councillor Beccy Hopfensperger, Cabinet Member for Adult Care at Suffolk County Council, said:
“This prosecution sends a clear message that the misuse of a Blue Badge will not be tolerated in
Suffolk. This is not a victimless crime. Illegally using a badge that is not yours is denying a disabled
parking space to one of the 43,000 registered Blue Badge holders in Suffolk who have a genuine
need for them.
“I would like to thank our Counter Fraud Service for their work alongside the district and borough
councils in tackling Blue Badge misuse as part of our ongoing commitment to helping the people of
Suffolk to live happy and independent lives.”

Suffolk Waste Partnership back national campaign to raise awareness of safe
battery disposal

Suffolk Waste Partnership is backing a nationwide campaign urging people to safely dispose of old
batteries in a bid to avoid starting fires in refuse vehicles

The Partnership has signed up to the Stop Battery Fires Campaign launched by national safe
electricals recycling group Material Focus, which aims to raise awareness of how householders can
properly recycle batteries and electricals.
Batteries, or electricals containing batteries, which end up inside bins or recycling and waste lorries
with other materials, get crushed in the waste or recycling process. This can result in them being
punctured and self-combusting, setting fire to dry and flammable waste and recycling around them.
In June, a fire at the Materials Recycling Facility in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, which recycles
waste from across Suffolk, is suspected to have been started by a battery dumped with household
recycling. The fire was located deep within nearly 400 tonnes of waste and took firefighters and staff
nearly two hours to extinguish.
Electricals containing batteries that tend to be discarded the most are smaller, frequently used and
often cheaper electricals like toothbrushes, shavers, chargers, and toys. Lithium-ion batteries are
responsible for around 48% (more than 200) of all waste fires occurring in the UK each year
according to the Environmental Services Association, the trade body representing the UK’s resource
and waste management industry.
These fires cost some £158 million annually to waste operators, fire services and the
environment. Yet the Material Focus survey found 45% of householders are unaware of the fire risk
if they do not safely dispose of batteries hidden inside electrical items.
Simple scheme to buy solar panels returns for Suffolk residents
Solar Together Suffolk, a scheme which has helped over 1,500 homes to install solar panels and
batteries, opens for new registrations on 22 August 2022.
The scheme helps homeowners feel confident that they are paying the right price for a high-quality
installation from pre-approved installers, whilst increasing their independence from the grid and
reducing their carbon emissions.
Suffolk County Council and all local borough and district councils support Solar Together Suffolk.
From 22 August 2022, Suffolk residents can register for free with the group-buying scheme, with no
obligation to go ahead with an installation: www.solartogether.co.uk/suffolk.
It is open to anyone interested in:
• installing new solar panels (with the option for battery storage and EV charge points)
• adding battery storage to an existing solar panel array
How does it work?
• 22 August to 26 September: registration is open, it is free and with no obligation
• 27 September: pre-vetted installers take part in the auction to bid against each other to
offer the best deal
• 17 October: a few weeks after the auction you will receive a personal recommendation
based on your registration details
• 25 November: your deadline to accept your personal recommendation and proceed with an
installation

Support is on-hand throughout the entire process which, together with information sessions, will
allow households to make an informed decision in a safe and hassle-free environment.
Suffolk’s local authorities are again working in partnership with independent experts iChoosr to roll
out Solar Together Suffolk.
iChoosr has a strong history of delivering group purchase schemes for local authorities. It has
worked with 160 UK local authorities on its collective energy switching schemes. iChoosr’s schemes
have also been delivered in partnership with local authorities in five countries. Over seventy
schemes led to 110,000 residents installing solar PV systems.
Free registration, with no obligation is open from 22 August to 26 September 2022, submit your
details at www.solartogether.co.uk/suffolk.
Could you help a family in need? – Suffolk supports Ukraine
Column by Councillor Bobby Bennett – Cabinet Member for Equalities and Communities
Today, 24 August, the people of Ukraine mark their Independence Day – exactly six months since
Russia’s unjust invasion, and 31 years since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Suffolk County Council has joined other councils, in lighting up our headquarters in yellow and blue
to mark the Ukrainian Day of Independence, and we are flying the Ukrainian flag to show our
continued support.
Suffolk has a proud history of supporting people in need and in the last six months, we have seen
people and communities across our county come together to do all we can to help those fleeing the
conflict in Ukraine.
More than 1,000 Ukrainian guests have now arrived in Suffolk via the Homes for Ukraine scheme,
and I want to say a huge thank you to each and every person and family in Suffolk who has taken
Ukrainian guests into their homes and into their hearts. You are making a real difference every day,
supporting and welcoming Ukrainian families into our communities.
Sponsors originally signed up to host guests for at least 6 months, with the option for those who are
willing and able to continue beyond this. We are extremely grateful to those who are able to
continue to provide this invaluable support to families beyond this initial period, however we fully
understand that some will be unable to, due to changes in their circumstances in this time. Again,
thank you for everything you have done – supporting a person or family fleeing conflict is no mean
feat and it cannot be underestimated how much of a difference you have made in these people’s
lives. If you think you can help, or know anyone who is interested, please
visit homesforukraine.campaign.gov.uk.
Council to boost electric vehicle charging across Suffolk
It was announced on August 24
th
that the council submitted a bid of £1,362,000 to the Department
for Transport, as part of the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme.
Suffolk’s residents and visitors will see further improvements to the county’s electric vehicle (EV)
charging network, following Suffolk County Council’s successful bid to fund more charging points.
With additional contributions such as commercial funding, the project will see a total investment of
around £2.75m.
The new LEVI funding will allow the council to develop the county’s EV charging network by:
• PV solar power and battery storage upgrades to approximately ten existing sites

• Installing community EV charging, PV solar power and battery storage at over thirty further
sites in urban and rural areas
• Identifying key commercial sites for 7kW, rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, which will benefit
the local community
Suffolk County Council has led the way in electric vehicle charging, following the launch of Plug in
Suffolk in 2019. It was the UK’s first ‘fully open’ public EV fast charging network and has seen other
local authorities around the country follow that model.
Plug In Suffolk has now installed one hundred charging points around the county, with an emphasis
on installations in rural locations and supporting households without off-street charging capabilities.
Letting agent sentenced after leaving property owners out of pocket
A Newmarket business owner convicted of defrauding his customers by over £80,000 was today
sentenced to 34 months in prison.
Numerous complaints from property owners and tenants prompted an investigation into Francis
Smart, proprietor of Smart Residential Letting Agents, after it was claimed that he had broken the
law by pocketing tenancy deposits instead of placing these into a Deposit Protection Scheme.
More than thirty witnesses alleged that they had faced substantial losses after using Smart’s
services, resulting in Suffolk Trading Standards, alongside colleagues from the National Trading
Standards Tri Regional Investigations Team, initiating court proceedings against him.
Mr Smart, aged forty-six, subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in respect of retaining
rent and deposits under S1 Fraud Act 2006 earlier this month. Upon sentencing him to 34 months
per offence, to run concurrently at Ipswich Crown Court today, Friday 26 August, the judge
commented that ‘this was particularly sad as people had liked and trusted you… You have betrayed
those who trusted you, caused a lot of distress, and upset.’
An application was made to have Smart disqualified as a Director of a Company in the future and this
matter will be dealt with together with any compensation at a Proceeds of Crime hearing in March
2023.
Smart, of Dowding Avenue in Cambridge, is already serving prison time for another police matter
and will be remanded in custody and serve his latest sentence concurrently.