Agenda item

The Committee are presented with reports on the Council’s strategies for dealing with flytipping and enforcement.

a)    A report submitted by the Head of Environmental Health (Environmental Health)

b)    A report submitted by the Head of Environmental Services (Waste Services)

Recommended                     -   That the comments and recommendations of the Committee be noted and actioned, as required.

Two reports were submitted to the Communities and Wellbeing Overview & Scrutiny Committee in relation to fly tipping, waste accumulation and enforcement.  One report was submitted by the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health, Councillor Melissa Fisher, supported by the Environmental Health Manager – Environmental Protection and dealt with fly tipping and the accumulation of waste on private land and the second report was submitted by the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Waste Services, Councillor Steward Eaves, who was supported by the Head of Environmental Services and dealt with fly tipping and the dumping of waste on public land. 

The Committee was provided with statistical information from both departments and details on the enforcement policies used to remove fly tipped and accumulated waste, issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and prosecutions.

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health, Councillor Fisher, referred Members to the report and responded to the questions submitted in advance by the Committee in respect of fly tipping, waste accumulation and enforcement on private land:

1.      Is the Fixed Penalty Notice amount fixed by statute or is there flexibility to vary this?

The limits for UK environmental crime fixed penalty notice (FPN) payments are set by a combination of national legislation and local authorities.  Legislation provides the framework by setting the maximum and minimum amounts that can be charged for specific offences, while local authorities choose to set their own penalty amounts within the legislative limits.

2.      What happens if a fine is not paid or the resident cannot afford to pay the fine?

Environmental Protection hasn’t issued any FPNs this year however, the legal process would need to be followed for non-payment.

3.      Does the amount of fly tipping correlate with the location of HMOs or has there been an increase in fly tipping around HMOs?

Some research had been done as evidence for Article 4, however, whilst officers could see if addresses were HMOs, they did not routinely overlay the information with Dirty Back Yards (DBY)/fly tipping locations.  There had been no correlation between fly tipping and HMOs identified.

4.      How quickly is the Council able to remove waste which is considered a risk to public health such as asbestos?

Environmental Protection investigate waste fly tipped on private land or waste within dirty back yards (DBY).  They visit to assess the waste, establish owner/occupier details, serve Notices on owners to remove waste (within a time limit of least 7 days), visit to check if the waste has been removed and arrange for its removal if not.  This could be a further 7-10 days and the cost would need to be recouped from the owner/occupier.

5.      Is there enough staff to support the need for enforcement action?

Yes

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Waste Services, Councillor Stewart Eaves, referred Members to the report and responded to the questions submitted in advance by the Committee in respect of fly tipping, waste accumulation and enforcement on private land:

1.      Is the Fixed Penalty Notice amount fixed by statute or is there flexibility to vary this?

In the legislation there is a range set for fines for fly tipping which is between £400 and £1000.  Historically the Council has used the lower end of this range, however, Cabinet is exploring increasing the fine for fly tipping to nearer the top of the range as more of a deterrent.

2.   What happens if a fine is not paid or the resident cannot afford to pay the fine?

If the Fixed Penalty Notice is not paid then this outstanding debt to the Council goes to the Councils Debt Recovery Team.  They contact the person who has been fined to agree payment.  This can be a one-off payment or via instalments.  Should the person not co-operate with the debt recovery team then usually the debt goes to County Court judgement.

3.   Does the amount of fly tipping correlate with the location of HMOs or has there been an increase in fly tipping around HMOs?

There is no evidence to collaborate this statement.

4.   How quickly is the Council able to remove waste which is considered a risk to public health such as asbestos?

The Council would usually remove waste which may be a risk to public health quite quickly within a day or two.  For general fly tipping this is usually done over the next 5 to 10 days when the refuse crews are in the area.

5.    Is there enough staff to support the need for enforcement action?

There are currently two staff within Waste Services undertaking enforcement work on public land relating to side waste, fly tipping, commercial waste, abandoned vehicles, littering and graffiti.  If there were more enforcement staff they would undertake a greater volume of work.

The Chair provided Members of the Committee with an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments as follows:

-          Were there enough enforcement staff to manage cases of fly tipping?

-          In relation to fly tipping on private land, why was there a case still outstanding after a year?

-          Skip Days – what type of items could be disposed of in the skips?

-          How is the success of Skip Days measured?

-          Could information on HMOs be shared between both Departments?

-          Why had there been little enforcement action taken place by Environmental Protection during the last two years. 

-          What costs could be attached to property owners if they continued to do nothing about removing waste?

-          What success has Environmental Protection had in recouping money after removing specialist waste, such as asbestos?

-          Is fly tipping usually carried out by the same people?

-          Are there any plans in place to hire more enforcement staff to increase service productivity?

-          Are there any plans to erect CCTV in the Belthorn area as a preventative measure to reduce the amount of fly tipping taking place there?

-          A request to provide financial data (the total amount of fines, the total amount of income and the total amount outstanding).

Responses to the above were given as:

-          Both Departments reported that although they considered the number of enforcement staff was adequate, additional personnel would increase the effectiveness of the services.

-          The Committee was informed that the unresolved fly tipping case was a complex one and challenging.  One of the reasons that it had not been resolved promptly, was because of the difficulties and the time consuming nature of trying to locate the owners of the property.  Councillor Fisher reported that a full response to this question would be circulated to Members after the meeting.

-          Skip Days had been successful but they did not take bulky items or recyclable waste.  A request for evidence of its success would be emailed to Councillors, after the meeting.

-          Information on HMOs was shared between Departments and had been for the provision of the Article 4 Direction.

-          Members were informed of the difficulties of identifying those responsible for fly tipping including hazardous waste, and as such it was a challenge on the Council’s resources and, particularly time-consuming, in preparing cases for prosecution.  However, the Council would often be successful in recouping costs if they were requited to remove waste. 

-          Enforcement processes included serving a range of Notices, although the Council would try to speak and work with the public before taking any action.

-          Both Departments provided an outline of their enforcement processes. 

-          The Committee was informed that the financial data requested in respect of the number of fines issued, those paid and those still outstanding would be circulated to the Committee, after the meeting. 

-          CCTV had already been considered for use to deter fly tipping in places such as Belthorn but the Committee was advise that its implementation would take time.

Members of the Committee referred to the challenges of finding evidence to prosecute for fly tipping and was advised that other enforcement agencies, such as the Police, regularly sought permission from residents to use their domestic doorbell cameras as evidence.  The Committee suggested that this was something that the Council could also consider.  Councillor Fisher pointed out that people were not always co-operative but acknowledged the proposal.

The Chair permitted Councillor Shabir Fazal, a non-Member of the Committee, to speak at the meeting.  Councillor Fazal expressed concern at the amount of fly tipping in the borough and encouraged the Council to ensure robust measures were in place to deter people from doing it. 

Councillor Loraine Cox requested that thanks be given to the Environmental Protection and Waste Services Teams for their hard work in tackling the challenges of fly tipping.

Resolved                           (1)   That the Environmental Health Manager – Environmental Protection, circulates a full explanation of the reason why an unresolved fly tipping case was still outstanding;

                                (2)   That the Waste Services Manager provides the Committee with information about the success of recent Skip Days;  and,

                                (3)   That the Environmental Health Manager – Environmental Protection and the Waste Services Manager provides the Committee with financial data to show the amount of fines issues, the amount paid and the amount outstanding in the last 12 months; and

                                (4)   That Council Officers working in the Environmental Protection and Waste Services Departments be thanked for their hard work and efforts to ensure that the borough is kept clean of fly tipping and waste.