Issue - meetings

(a)       That the report be noted; and

(b)       That option 3, to extend the in-house provision, through recruitment or regional   working to provide the same level of enforcement coverage as the existing       contractor without maintaining a zero tolerance approach be recommended to    the Cabinet for consideration.   

Councillor Carolyn Thomas introduced a report to provide details of the Environmental Enforcement activities undertaken by the Council’s Enforcement Team and Kingdom Securities Limited on behalf of the Council.  She invited the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) to present the report.

The Chief Officer advised that the report outlined the approach to all environmental enforcement issues including littering, fly-tipping, and side waste enforcement, and the impact this work was having on street cleanliness and other performance indicators.  He referred to the Environmental Enforcement Policy which was adopted by the Council in 2013 and stated its approach to all aspects of

environmental enforcement.  The Chief Officer reported on the main considerations, as detailed in the report concerning littering offences, dog-fouling, side waste, fly-tipping, fly-tipping on private land, and abandoned cars. 

The Chief Officer introduced Mark Mountford, Regional Business Manager, and Eoin Henney, Business Manager, Kingdom Securities Limited, and invited them to give a presentation on the environmental enforcement activities undertaken on behalf of the Council.  The presentation covered the following main points:

·         patrol strategy

·         total Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) issued

·         offences 2016-17 and 2017-18

·         make/female ratio and age banding 2016-18

·         Ethnicity percentages 2016-18

·         Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) locations

·         behaviour change

The Chief Officer advised that the current arrangement with Kingdom Securities Limited was coming to an end and reported on the options, as detailed in the report, which were available for low level environmental enforcement within the County for recommendation to Cabinet.

The Chairman thanked Mark Mountford and Eion Henney for their presentation and invited Members to raise questions.

Councillor David Evans commented on the number of FPN’s issued for cigarettes in comparison to those for other offences, citing dog fouling as an example.  He expressed concerns that some areas were being specifically targeted to catch people who smoked cigarettes.  Referring to the options available for a future operating model, Councillor Evans expressed a preference to extend the Council’s in-house provision through recruitment to provide the same level of coverage as provided by Kingdom Securities Limited.

Councillor Bernie Attridge commented  on the cost and visual impact of littering on the environment and advised that Kingdom Securities Limited were introduced in 2016 to support the enforcement of environmental crime and the in-house enforcement team.  He commented on the improvements which had been achieved in town centres in terms of street cleanliness which supported the impact of a zero tolerance approach and the continued presence of enforcement officers.  He also advised that there had been an improvement in Flintshire’s grading in the Keep Wales Tidy rankings table.  Councillor Attridge commented on the small number of complaints received in comparison to the number of FPN’s issued and gave an assurance that all complaints were investigated and if any evidence of wrong practice was identified would be dealt with robustly. Councillor Attridge added that Flintshire had adopted an independent appeals process as requested by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee whereby appeals were considered by the Chief Officer, Governance.

Councillor Haydn Bateman asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5