Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee supports the procurement of a single Business Partner on a short-term 2 year contract (with an option to extend based on performance) to undertake the enforcement of low level environmental crime, dog control and car parking offences on behalf of the Council’; and

(b)       That the Committee recommends Option 1 to Cabinet for side waste enforcement.

The Waste & Ancillary Service Manager presented a report to consider engaging a specialist private partner to carry out environmental enforcement activities of low-level crime such as dog fouling, littering and car parking on behalf of the Council under a 2-year contract.

The conclusions of the 12 month trial of the formal agreement with Kingdom were positive in respect of the significant increase in the number of fixed penalty notices (FPN) issued during that time and the impact on town centres and open spaces.  A breakdown of litter types from July 2016 to April 2017 showed this to be predominantly cigarette litter.  The terms of the agreement meant that the proportion of income generated by the Council was being used to fund additional enforcement activity to specifically target dog fouling hotspot areas.  The extension of the pilot until December 2017 would enable consideration of a longer term solution.

To tackle the issue of side waste, the Council intended to take a 3-stage approach to work with residents who failed to present their waste in the correct way and to use specific powers to issue FPNs as a last resort.  A small team of Council officers would be responsible for this enforcement alongside similar environmental crime such as fly tipping, whilst also providing occasional support to the contract provider on low-level environment crimes.

Councillor Paul Shotton welcomed the findings of the report and spoke in support of all the recommendations.

Councillor David Evans queried comments on the Council’s ranking on environmental enforcement.  He felt that the breakdown of FPNs demonstrated the need for greater focus on dog fouling offences rather than littering and that bringing the service in-house would help to prioritise and tackle offences which were of most concern.  Councillor Carolyn Thomas emphasised the more successful outcomes from outsourcing the service and gave assurances that dog fouling enforcement (albeit more challenging to enforce) was a key priority.  The Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) said that cigarette litter was a widespread problem and that the impact of the pilot was evident across the county.  He urged Members to share intelligence on dog fouling and provided details of the senior officer post to manage the outsourced contract and deal with appeals.

The Waste & Ancillary Service Manager agreed to circulate the ‘Keep Wales Tidy’ report, together with details on the number of enforcement cases that the Council had taken to court.

On side waste enforcement, it was explained that for both options for stage 1 of the process, the bin would be labelled to advise the resident why waste had either been removed or one bag left in the empty bin.  It was stressed that no side waste would not be left outside properties.

Councillor Haydn Bateman proposed Option 1 of stage 1 of the process, which was to remove all side waste in the first instance.

The Chairman said that public bins with provision for cigarette stubs would help to reduce litter.  He was advised that public houses and cafes were encouraged to provide facilities to reduce this type of litter and that intelligence on hotspot areas should be shared to identify where a bin was needed.

Councillor Chris Bithell welcomed the success of the pilot and referred to the stronger stance adopted by some other countries.

Councillor Owen Thomas said there was insufficient disabled parking provision in town centres and that non-disabled spaces should be clearly marked to indicate that these were not free of charge to disabled users.  The Waste & Ancillary Service Manager advised that the latter point had been agreed as part of the Council’s policy and that statutory obligations were being met.  On the volume of litter generated by fast-food outlets, he spoke about working with those organisations on national campaigns and the sharing of intelligence on problem areas.  Following similar concerns from other Members, the Chief Officer stated his willingness to write to the Minister about this ongoing problem if the Committee wished.

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin also felt that enforcement services could be carried out in-house with learning taken from recent initiatives such as Community Asset Transfers.  It was explained that outsourcing to an external organisation gave access to specialist expertise and additional resources.

In questioning consistency of enforcement across the county, Councillor Veronica Gay said that specific targets should be set for each area and that feedback should be given to local Members in response to intelligence shared.  As requested, the officers agreed to carry out a mapping exercise to show the locations of FPNs issued.

On being put to the vote, Option 1 of stage 1 of the side waste enforcement process, was carried.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee supports the procurement of a single Business Partner on a short-term 2 year contract (with an option to extend based on performance) to undertake the enforcement of low level environmental crime, dog control and car parking offences on behalf of the Council’; and

(b)       That the Committee recommends Option 1 to Cabinet for side waste enforcement.