The report, led by local democracy reporter Rufus Pickles, uncovered that Reform UK councillor Caroline Gladwin, who now sits on the council’s adult social care, public health and housing needs committee, was served with three legal notices by the Isle of Wight Council in early 2023.

The notices, issued under the Housing Act, related to a two-bedroom flat in Shanklin and cited a series of serious hazards, including damp and mould, rotting timbers, exposed wiring, defective guttering, and a front door without a working lock. At the time, the council assessed both Category One and Category Two risks to tenants’ health and safety.

The revelation has drawn criticism from fellow councillors, with Independent Socialist councillor Geoff Brodie calling the situation “deeply troubling.”

Tribunal documents confirmed that Councillor Gladwin appealed the notices in September 2023. While minor wording changes were made, the tribunal upheld both the hazard awareness and emergency remedial action notices. The improvement notice, which referenced further risks including excess cold, broken electrics, and lack of fire safety measures, was also upheld with modifications.

Councillor Gladwin, who represents the Central Rural ward, strongly defended her position, saying she was unaware of the extent of the damage and blamed a former tenant whom she described as “very difficult.” She claimed the experience left her so distraught that she chose not to let the property again.

However, records have shown she has since declared another property as a rental, though the exact location has been withheld from public view under a “sensitive interest” exemption approved by the council’s deputy monitoring officer.

The Isle of Wight Council has not commented publicly on the notices, but concerns have been raised about the transparency of councillor declarations. Councillors are required to declare property interests, yet exemptions can be granted where disclosure is deemed sensitive.

The County Press’s story has raised questions over the role of councillors in shaping housing policy while also participating in the rental market themselves, with Pickles’ reporting sparking debate over ethical standards, conflict of interest protocols, and the robustness of property enforcement in the Isle of Wight.

This story highlighted broader concerns regarding transparency in local government, emphasising the crucial role of local media in holding public authorities accountable.

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The revelations centre on claims that Mr Chilton, a former counter-terrorism officer and head of more than 5,600 officers, staff and PCSOs across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, failed to disclose a relationship formed earlier in his policing career while serving in a senior role.

The investigation was triggered earlier this year during a separate misconduct hearing, when a former detective alleged that Mr Chilton had engaged in an affair with a junior officer. The claim led to a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which launched an investigation into whether the chief constable had breached professional standards by failing to declare a potential conflict of interest.

Mr Chilton remained in post while the inquiry progressed. However, in a significant development revealed by the Echo, a second referral was later made to the watchdog, leading to a further investigation into potential gross misconduct – this time involving an additional relationship believed to have taken place during his time as chief.

Just weeks after the Echo’s reporting brought the new probe to light, Mr Chilton announced his immediate retirement, ending a 33-year career in policing.

The Echo’s investigation has shed light on the leadership of one of the South’s largest police forces and raised serious concerns about the culture of accountability within senior ranks. Questions are now being asked about the systems in place to ensure openness and transparency when allegations are made against senior officers.

The IOPC has confirmed its investigation into Mr Chilton remains ongoing despite his resignation. While no formal findings have yet been made, the Echo’s reporting has triggered renewed calls for consistent national standards in handling police misconduct and for greater transparency when those at the top are accused of breaching public trust.

What began as an exclusive investigation by the Southern Daily Echo has now become a moment of reckoning for police oversight and a powerful reminder of the role local journalism plays in holding public institutions accountable.

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The culmination of months of reporting by investigations correspondent Harry Davies, along with colleagues at the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, this was a truly global scoop.

The story was widely followed up, including in Israel, where Yossi Cohen, the Mossad director who led the offensive and who threatened the then-prosecutor in a series of secret meetings, was a well-known political figure.

Highly complex and challenging, the investigation required the team to develop national security, intelligence, military and criminal justice sources across multiple jurisdictions. It was also extremely timely, published a week after the current chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The post Spying, Hacking and Intimidation: Israel’s Nine-Year ‘War’ on the ICC Exposed appeared first on News Media Association.

The campaign was sparked by a stark reality. Despite Scotland’s targets to eradicate child poverty, The Herald found efforts were falling short. In 2023–24, 22 per cent of children were living in relative poverty, well above the interim target of 18 per cent. Even more alarming, the Herald found 80,000 children were now living in what has been described as “very deep poverty”, facing the harshest consequences of deprivation.

The Herald also found that another 17 per cent of children live in absolute poverty, where current income was less than 60 per cent of the UK median in 2010 and that nine per cent of children were considered to live in material deprivation – households without basic goods and services.

In a bold editorial move, the paper published an open letter as its front page to First Minister John Swinney, urging him to act. The letter, co-signed by a coalition of charities including Barnardo’s Scotland, Save the Children, and the Child Poverty Action Group, described the proposed increase as “life-changing” and “a policy that is working – but needs to work harder and reach further”. The Herald has also called on the Prime Minister to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The campaign has already sparked political reaction. In an exclusive interview, First Minister John Swinney described the current levels of child poverty as a “matter of shame.”

With the backing of a broad coalition and the weight of public opinion, the Herald’s campaign is a rallying cry for change. As the open letter puts it: “First Minister, you have the power to make a profound and lasting difference to the lives of Scotland’s children.” 

Catherine Salmond, editor of the Herald, said: “This week, we have heard the human stories behind the statistics and from those charities fighting for a better quality of life for Scottish children.

“Together, we are now calling on the Scottish Government to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 to help them have a better life. This marks the start of our campaigning for change.”

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The campaign, codenamed ‘Tangerine Owl’, was piloted in Canada and expanded to the US by Spark Foundry, who launched a successful pilot marketing programme, with plans to roll it out worldwide. However these plans were abruptly cancelled following the FT’s reporting.

The investigation revealed internal communications, presentations and emails showing how Google employees advised Meta on how to “hack” audience safeguards, despite Google’s public ban on personalised ads for teens.

The exposé prompted the European Commission to demand internal documents from Google, raising the prospect of a formal inquiry. The FT’s investigation prompted a response from Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who was contacted for comment. She said: “Big Tech companies cannot be trusted to protect our kids. They once again have been caught exploiting our children, and these Silicon Valley executives have proven that they will always prioritise profit over our children.”

In response, Google has tightened its policies, banned demographic targeting of the “unknown” group, and cancelled a quarterly business review with Meta and ad agency Spark Foundry.

The FT reported that Jeff Chester, executive director of the Centre for Digital Democracy, said of the tie-up between Meta and Alphabet-owned Google: “It shows you how both companies remain untrustworthy, duplicitous, powerful platforms that require stringent regulation and oversight.”

The FT’s reporting has already led to internal reforms at Google and renewed scrutiny of Big Tech’s handling of youth safety online. This story serves as a powerful example of investigative journalism driving accountability and shaping the public and regulatory agenda on digital ethics and platform responsibility.

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Tindle committed its news brands to sustained editorial coverage across its titles in Wales, the South-West of England, Sussex and Surrey, ensuring that FareShare’s mission and campaigns received visibility.

Charities and community groups receiving food via the FareShare network include schools, refuges, community centres, faith groups and homelessness shelters. The food provided supports local charities to provide a range of essential services to people in need, while also enhancing employability, reducing isolation and helping to build important connections.

The partnership also included a call to action for Tindle staff, encouraging them to volunteer at FareShare centres in their regions – a reflection of how this partnership showed Tindle’s strong public service ethos, reinforcing the publisher’s role as an active participant in the communities it serves and helping to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

Tindle Newspapers managing director Scott Wood said: “We know because of our presence in towns and communities across Southern England, Wales and the Isle of Man that families are feeling the pinch.

“That is why we are delighted to announce this partnership with three of FareShare’s network partners, to publicise their amazing work and help to promote their campaigns and appeals.”

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Eight months on, as a result of his groundbreaking investigation, the government confirmed that a second Post Office IT system was likely to have been faulty and may have led to wrongful convictions before Horizon.

A moment of national significance, vindication was achieved for the affected postmasters, many of whom acknowledged that this outcome may never have been possible without Steve’s reporting.

Steve’s investigation – interviews with former postmasters, obtaining internal Post Office documents, court records and transcripts, and Freedom of Information requests – pieced together the “second scandal” involving Capture, a primitive accounting system introduced by the Post Office in the early 1990s. At one point, Steve received a phone call, threatening him with legal action.

His exclusives led to the government launching its independent review and admitting it may have to extend its Horizon compensation schemes.

The primary source of the investigation was Steve Marston, 68, who was charged with criminal offences after Post Office auditors alleged £79,000 was missing from his Greater Manchester branch in 1997. He maintains his innocence but claims Post Office investigators pressured him into pleading guilty to avoid prison.

Despite scant available evidence after more than 25 years, Steve worked doggedly to corroborate Mr Marston’s story, including tracking down a paper copy of his indictment record from Preston Crown Court’s archives and cuttings from local newspaper coverage.

He also found more former sub-postmasters who were prepared to go on the record, including 73-year-old Liz Roberts, a sub-postmaster’s wife who was jailed for two-and-a-half years in 1999 despite insisting her innocence. She died just a few weeks after her story ran.

Steve’s reporting has had real world impact – Kevan Jones, the Labour MP who had supported Horizon victims for years, became convinced of a “second scandal” and questioned why the Post Office had not come clean about Capture cases before.

The Post Office admitted it was “very concerned” and in February, chief executive Nick Read told the Business and Trade select committee that there appeared to be at least four potentially wrongful convictions involving Capture and that the system had been used by at least 1,000 sub-postmasters.

In May, the government appointed US firm Kroll to investigate and in September, they confirmed what Steve’s reporting had already exposed: that there were faults with Capture, that the Post Office knew of these faults but prosecuted postmasters anyway – and that it even went as far as to ignore claims of faults when presented by defence lawyers in court.

Thanks to data obtained by Steve under FOI laws, we now know hundreds of postmasters may have been wrongly convicted for accounting issues related to Capture. Steve’s reporting has been praised by MPs, including new Post Office minister Gareth Thomas, who said he was “horrified” by Capture faults – and by postmasters and their relatives who believed they would never be heard.

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The campaign was sparked by a series of stories highlighting how cancer patients and others with life-altering conditions have been denied access to the scheme, despite facing serious mobility challenges. Among them is a 79-year-old man with leukaemia, a tumour and heart problems, who was refused a badge despite needing a stairlift and mobility scooter. Another local resident was turned down even after a cancer diagnosis, a toe amputation, and blood clots in her lungs that severely limited her ability to walk.

The campaign is being led by reporter Elli Hodgson, who said: “As soon as we published the first story on this issue, we knew there was a much larger problem. We were – and continue to be – inundated with messages from people who clearly need a temporary Blue Badge. We’re really proud to be fighting for our readers in this way, and we’ve been delighted that so many MPs have decided to back the campaign. Already, there is a lot going on at Westminster which we hope will have a positive effect.”

The campaign has already gained the support of three Kent MPs, including Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone and The Malling, who has herself battled cancer. She said: “I think anything we can do to help people to be mobilised and to access goods and services while they are going through these difficulties is important.”

Currently, Blue Badges are issued by Kent County Council in line with Department for Transport guidance, which requires applicants to demonstrate that their condition will affect them for at least three years. This rules out many people with temporary but severe disabilities, leaving them without the support they need during some of the most difficult periods of their lives.

KentOnline’s Blue Badge Battle is calling on Ministers to review the criteria and introduce greater flexibility for those with serious, short-term conditions. The campaign aims to ensure that compassion and common sense are at the heart of the system – and that no one is left behind.

The campaign continues to gather momentum, with every Kent MP now backing the call for urgent reform to the Blue Badge system. MPs Helen Grant, Tris Osborne, and Mike Martin have together written to Kent County Council and Medway Council, urging greater flexibility in how the rules are applied and calling on the government to legislate for temporary Blue Badges.

In response, Councillor Vince Maple, leader of Medway Council, has signalled his support and confirmed that officers are actively exploring what more can be done. He has invited the Kent County Council to join a coordinated meeting to discuss a unified approach across local authorities.

In a major step forward, Helen Grant secured a Westminster Hall debate on the issue. The campaign has also received backing from Shadow Transport Secretary Gareth Bacon, following a successful meeting with campaigners and MPs, and from Ruth Cadbury, Chair of the Transport Select Committee.

KentOnline’s Blue Badge Battle is now not only a local campaign – it is a national call for compassion and legislative change. It seeks to ensure that people facing serious health challenges are not left without the support they need simply because their condition doesn’t fit a rigid definition.

The recent Westminster Hall debate marked a significant step forward and highlighted the growing impact of Kent Online’s Blue Badge Battle campaign. What began as local reporting on a clear injustice has helped spark a national conversation. MPs from across the political spectrum shared moving accounts of how the current Blue Badge rules are failing many individuals, such as those with cancer. In response, the Under-Secretary of State for Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, said she is “open to the possibility of change” and will review existing guidance, including looking at temporary models such as the one used in Wales. The government has also agreed to meet with campaigners – a powerful sign of what local journalism can do for its communities.

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In most circumstances, if an abuser murders a partner or family member inside with a weapon, they will get a life sentence with a sentencing starting point of 15 years, 10 years less than if they had killed the same person in the street.

The Mirror was determined to end this injustice. The title launched the campaign with a front-page appeal for members of the public to take part in the government’s murder sentencing consultation.

Alongside this, the Mirror ran the first of many interviews with the relatives of murdered women who had been let down by the justice system. These included Julie Devey, whose daughter Poppy was stabbed nearly 100 times by her boyfriend – who was only sentenced to 16 years and 2 months – and Carol Gould whose daughter Ellie was stabbed and strangled to death by her boyfriend, who received 12.5 years in prison.

The campaign was supported by Jess Phillips MP, Spice Girl Mel B, Hetti Nanton, chair of Refuge, Dame Cheri Blair, and the then shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, among others. The Mirror also worked with the pressure group Killed Women, made up of bereaved family members. The stories were picked up by other publications, and the campaign was discussed widely in the broadcast media.

Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak eventually pledged to change the law in June if he were to stay in power. The Mirror is now calling on the new government, many of whose members have been great supporters of the campaign, to follow suit. The Mirror’s Justice For Our Daughter campaign also called for domestic abuse experts in 999 call centres, and longer sentences for strangulation – a measure the Labour government is now introducing.

The campaign also demands that those who abuse someone to the point that they take their own life as a direct result to be charged with manslaughter. The Mirror interviewed grieving mum Sharon Holland at her home, whose daughter Chloe took her own life after being told to do so by her ex partner, and was harassed and abused to the point she felt there was no way out.

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The Courier in Dundee led the charge with its Trapped by RAAC campaign. The title was joined by the Aberdeen Press and Journal which highlighted the plight of homeowners in Dundee, Stirling and Aberdeen who have been told they must evacuate their properties. The homes, many purchased through the Right to Buy scheme, were constructed using the same unstable concrete that forced emergency closures of schools and hospitals across the UK last year.

In Dundee alone, nearly 900 homes are affected – more than anywhere else in Scotland. Residents now face the impossible choice of paying tens of thousands of pounds for repairs or selling their homes at a loss for demolition.

Courier editor David Clegg said: “Dundee is at the epicentre of Scotland’s RAAC housing crisis – and too many people are being left to face it alone.

“Nearly 900 homes in the city contain the defective concrete, more than anywhere else in Scotland. Many of the affected homeowners bought their properties through Right to Buy, unaware of the risks they were taking on. Now, their homes are losing value, their futures are uncertain, and they have nowhere to turn for help.

“This isn’t just about statistics. It’s about real people facing the possibility of bankruptcy and homelessness because of a problem they didn’t create. They need help – and they need it now.”

The campaign has drawn comparisons to the Post Office scandal – another case of ordinary people being failed by systems meant to protect them. Thousands have already backed a petition demanding urgent government intervention.

The campaign is calling for:

• Immediate government action to support affected homeowners
• Clear and transparent communication on the scale of the issue
• Fair compensation and practical solutions for those trapped in unsellable homes

The Press and Journal hosted an online debate to explore solutions, while reporter Lindsay Bruce addressed Aberdeen Council directly, urging leaders to show creativity and compassion in their response – emphasising the vital role of journalism in holding power to account and giving voice to those caught in the crisis.

Lindsay Bruce, who had been leading the campaign for the Press and Journal, said: “My call was for creativity and compassion, to bring about these solutions in a way that doesn’t see homeowners penalised further, whether mentally, physically or financially.

“As I said in my deputation, good journalism is robust in its ability to cover these stories and to question those in power positions at the heart of a crisis. We are also uniquely positioned to help give voice to the voiceless.

“We’re doing all we can to do just that. I hope I did the homeowners and their plight justice.

“Their ask is deliverable and measurable. It should not make them even worse off. I believe our leaders have it within them to buck the trend of ‘no obligation within the law’ to leading by example.”

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