Agenda item

[To receive a presentation from Shaun Walker, Service Lead and Ian Crutchley, Compliance Officer, Environmental Protection]

The Chair reported that the item on abandoned vehicles had been requested by the Vice-Chair.  The Service Lead, and Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection gave a presentation, a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes. 

The Service Lead for Environmental Crime covered a number of areas in the presentation, including the definition of an abandoned vehicle, the huge resources dedicated to dealing with over 1000 vehicle investigations annually, the service challenges, the process and legislation.  They were looking to refresh their agreement with Wolverhampton Homes to ensure they were working collaboratively to assess abandoned vehicles and take the appropriate action on land Wolverhampton Homes were responsible for.  It was acknowledged that this was an area which needed to be strengthened.  They were also looking to make improvements on the mapping system Geowulf as some asset layers were not accurate.  They needed to be mindful of a potential increase in abandoned petrol and deiseal cars as the country moved to electric vehicles.

The Chair asked about timescales from the moment the Council Officer had placed a notice on a vehicle.  The Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection responded that the notice asked for the Council to be contacted with seven days.  The legislation made it clear that the Council needed to do everything they could to identify the owners of the vehicle.  If they were not contacted within the seven days, they would gather evidence and put the case forward to the DVLA for a registered keepers check.  If there was a registered keeper listed, the Council would write to them giving them a further notice of seven days for them to contact the Council in relation to the vehicle.  A decision would be reached by Officers within 21 days to four weeks on whether the vehicle should be removed.  If a person claimed the vehicle, under the current legislation the Council could no longer consider the vehicle as abandoned.  If the vehicle was on Council land, they could encourage them to move the vehicle, failing that they would have to take other Civil steps dependent on who was responsible for the land.

A Panel Member asked how the process could be improved with Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs).  Some of the hot spot areas were in areas managed by TMOs.  He believed there was some miscommunication with the TMOs and Wolverhampton Homes. The TMOs believed they needed to go to Wolverhampton Hones first before going to the Council.  His second question related to how long it took Officers to conduct a site visit from the point a vehicle had been reported as abandoned.  His final question concerned if an abandoned vehicle was dealt with by the Police or the Council, in cases where it was clear it was not a legally parked vehicle.

The Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection remarked that they could offer the TMOs the same guidance and training as they offered to Wolverhampton Homes.  The Police did have devolved powers from the DVLA to deal with vehicles that were not legally taxed.  The Council would give the Police details of vehicles they suspected had been cloned, stolen or been involved in crime. The Police would also give the Council details of vehicles for them to investigate.  They therefore worked in collaboration.  The Police were able to move a vehicle quickly if it was causing an obstruction. 

The Vice-Chair asked if Officers could provide the data which showed the hot spot areas for abandoned vehicles across the City.  He thought a map provided to Members of the Council would be useful in showing the hot spot areas within their Wards.  He also asked if certain abandoned vehicles could be prioritised if they met certain criteria.

The Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection responded that the hot spot data was easily retrievable at Ward level.  They did prioritise vehicles reported as abandoned, such as if it had been reported as burnt-out.  For a burnt-out vehicle there was 72 hours maximum turnaround from report to removal.  Vehicles that were causing a public nuisance or considered as a hazard (i.e. - smashed vehicles, fire hazard) were also prioritised.