Issue - meetings

Matter for Decision

The purposes of the report was to:

       i.          Inform the Executive Councillor and Scrutiny Committee Members of the new fixed penalty notice (FPN) powers relating to the household waste duty of care that had come into force under The Environmental Protection (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations), which amend section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

     ii.          Seek authorisation for the council’s Streets and Open Spaces enforcement officers to issue FPNs, under section 34ZA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), to persons whom the officer has reason to believe have committed a breach of household waste duty of care.

   iii.          Seek authority to use the legal maximum FPN level of £400 for all breaches of household waste duty of care and to give a discount of £240 (i.e. discounted fine payment level of £160) for early payment provided payment is made within 10 days of the date the FPN was issued.

Decision of Executive Councillor for Streets and Open Spaces

Agreed to:

       i.          Adopt the legal maximum FPN level of £400 for all of breaches of household waste duty of care offences and to give discount for early payment of £240 (i.e. discounted fine payment level of £160) provided payment is made within 10 days of the date the FPN was issued.

     ii.          Delegate authority to the Head of Environmental Services to introduce the new fixed penalties for household waste duty of care offences.

   iii.          Authorise council’s Streets and Open Spaces enforcement officers to issue these FPNs in accordance with section 34ZA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Enforcement Team Manager.

The Enforcement Team Manager said the following in response to Members’ questions:

       i.          The level of fines for FPNs were in-line with fly tipping.

     ii.          There were sufficient resources in place to investigate environmental crimes. FPNs were offered as an alternative to taking further action. There was no net increase in the number of cases investigated.

   iii.          Examples of where the household waste duty of care had been breached were set out in paragraph 3.3 of the Officer’s report. This was not an exhaustive list. The list would be reviewed and put into the public domain in the near future. The intention was to alert householders what they should do so they did not fall foul of criteria.

The Committee resolved by 9 votes to 0 (unanimously by those present) to endorse the recommendations.

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.