Today is National Offer Day and sees 95.52 per cent (2,918 pupils) of parents in the borough given their first preference, placing Barking and Dagenham second in London.

Barking and Dagenham Council is determined to protect its residents and the Trading Standards team play a pivotal role in this by ensuring local businesses don’t sell illegal products or items to underage children.

The Trading Standards team at Barking and Dagenham Council take sales of illegal cigarettes and tobacco very seriously and regularly carry out operations to seize these products from local shops.

A judge has ordered a Barking shisha bar owner to pay a fine of nearly £1,000 for trading illegally on the public highway.

Reducing youth violence in Barking and Dagenham is a key priority for the council and its Trading Standards team regularly run test purchasing operations with local businesses to ensure they’re not selling knives to young people.

Barking and Dagenham Council teamed up with Growing Communities’ Better Food Shed, a not-for-profit organic fruit and vegetable wholesaler, to deliver 1,000 food hampers to support families who need it the most.

In recognition of the great work it does, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD) has been ranked joint first in the country in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Planning Performance Tables for two key metrics – on-time major and non-major decisions.

Barking and Dagenham’s Eastbury Manor House will reopen its doors from Wednesday 5 April following its closure over the Winter for repairs and maintenance.

Barking and Dagenham Council is clearing its transport hubs from chewing gum litter thanks to a £35,000 grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force.

In Barking and Dagenham all private landlords must have a licence issued by the council to rent their properties to tenants and if they don’t, they could face a huge fine as one Dagenham landlord recently found out.