Agenda item

[Steve Woodward, Head of Environmental Services, to present report]

The Chair invited Craig Collingswood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, to make some introductory remarks. The Cabinet Member commented that the issue of fly tipping is a key concern of residents based on the number of complaints received. The issue of fly tipping is an endemic problem nationally. The Cabinet Member commented that the approach taken in response to this has been to develop innovative solutions and achieve the best that can be done with the resources available.

The Cabinet Member offered the panel reassurance that he and the members of the team area are doing everything possible to develop innovate solutions across the City which will be outlined in the presentation.

The Chair invited John Roseblade, Director of Resident Services, to make some comments. The Director acknowledged that the issue of fly-tipping is high in the casework of Councillors and welcomed the opportunity to bring the issue to the panel talk about the work being done to think differently to find solutions based on use of good local intelligence in how resources are used.

The Chair invited Steve Woodward, Head of Environmental Services, and Claire Walters, Edwards Environmental Place Based Development Manager, Liz Grimshaw, Environmental Project Manager and Thomas Hawkins, Section Leader: Fly Tipping to give their presentation.

The Head of Environmental Services that colleagues would be presenting different sections within their areas of responsibility.

The Head of Environmental Services commented that the issue of fly tipping as stated by the Cabinet Member is a national issue, but the report will set out the positive measures being taken to combat the issue in Wolverhampton.

The Head of Environmental Services outlined the main headlines to provide an overview of the current situation. The Head of Environmental Services commented that the issue of fly tipping remains a constant challenge and that is an ever-evolving issue that the service is working to deal with. The Head of Environmental Services reassured the panel that progress is being made to deal with issues about fly tipping reported by councillors and the public.

Claire Walters, Environmental Place Based Development Manager, gave an overview of the Shopper a Tipper project.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that the approach of the project is evidence based.

There is also a recognition that because Wolverhampton is a very diverse city it is important to better understand the reasons why someone would fly tip in an area and develop the right local interventions to respond to the issue.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that in trying to understand why people fly tip, three groups were identified:

·         people who do not know what they are doing is wrong in terms of leaving rubbish outside of their home for the Council to collect.

·         people who can't dispose of their waste correctly because landlords of Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) are not giving them the opportunity to do the right thing.

·         residents who just won't do the right thing and know what they are doing is wrong.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager highlighted the importance of using the right interventions to support people in each the groups, while acknowledging that different methods will be used at the ward level, and in some situations a different street by street approach will be needed.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that 70 percent fly tipping incidents across the city consists of bagged domestic waste and explained the difficulty of getting prosecutions or fines for people fly tipping due level of evidence needed. The importance of the public in reporting incidents of people fly tipping was highlighted.

Liz Grimshaw, Environmental Project Manager, gave further details about three stages of the Shop a Tipper Project

Stage 1 – education – for example, a letter is sent to all residents and businesses identified as having a persistent issue with fly-tipping.

Stage 2 – intervention – for example, CCTV is installed.

Stage 3 – enforcement – for example, captured images are passed to the Council’s enforcement team.

The Environmental Project Manager commented on how enforcement officers use reports from the public via the Love Clean Street app is used to log reports on the Confirm Connect system, which is monitored by Operational Managers.

The Environmental Project Manager commented on results from Phase 1 of the Shop a Tipper project and highlighting key successes and the positive feedback reported in resident survey about the approach of the Council to fly tipping incidents.

The Environmental Project Manager commented on the new developments for Phase 2 of the Shop a Tipper project. In this stage of the project, it will assess if the impact is not simply displacing the fly tipping issue from one street to another.

The Environmental Project Manager added that nearly 70 per cent of fly-tipping in the city consists of bagged waste and that these incidents will be mapped against bin collection dates to consider if work is needed to provide education on waste disposal.

Thomas Hawkins, Section Leader: Fly Tipping gave details about the impact of the introduction of four new SMART CCTVs which also use AI to identify when fly tipping is happening to capture it and alert us to enable a quick response and increasing the Council’s evidence gathering capability.

The Section Leader commented on the advantages of the new system compared to the current camera technology.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented on the reconfiguration of roles within the environmental crime team, from November 2023. The changes led to the creation of two full time dedicated resources in the Environmental Crime team to address and enforce against action against fly tipping.

The Section Leader commented on the approach to addressing issues relating to fly tipping and the specific action be taken now and in the future.

The Section Leader commented that the introduction of extra cameras to the project will enable more fines for fly-tipping to be issued. The Government has introduced a change to allow increases in maximum fine limits for fly-tipping from £400 up to £1000. The Section Leader commented that a sliding scale of fines would allow the team to deal with more cases by issuing fixed penalties rather than taking the matter to court to seek a higher fine and help to ease workload pressures on the Environmental Crime team.

The Section Leader commented on the importance of education and the introduction of QR codes in information leaflets sent to residents. The QR code link provides information on waste disposal in different languages and other help.  In addition, where fly tipping incidents occur on land where the ownership is not clear then consideration will be given to fencing the area to provide a barrier to further incidents.

The panel were invited to comment on the presentation.

A panel member congratulated the presenters on the excellent performance of the report and highlighted the Love Clean Street app which allows incidents to be reported easily. There have been reports however from the public who have had problems using the app and suggested that this issue should be investigated.

A panel queried the number of people who have paid fines for fly-tipping and if the level of fines was set at level to have the necessary effect of deterring landlords and businesses from fly tipping. The suggestion of having a special day where a skip was provided to allow people to get rid of their rubbish and large white goods items and residents offered help by the Council. The service could be promoted by flyers.

The Director thanked the panel member for the positive comments about the service.

The Director commented in response to the idea of the Council providing a collection skip for residents that there is a difference between someone who cannot afford the cost of transporting rubbish to the special site and someone who does not know how to do dispose of the rubbish properly which presents a challenge to the service.

The Director advised the panel the approach to issuing of fines is do so when it isproportionate and appropriate to do so.

The Director commented about the use CCTV in hot spot areas for fly tipping such as orphan or private site and other work to protect sites at risk. The Director added that the Council will work with landowners to remove rubbish from derelict sites, especially in prominent areas with high footfall and highlighted the importance of giving a good first impression of the city. There is more work to be done to deal with issue involving private landowners in a more holistic way, for example, introducing service level agreements where rubbish will be removed from private land and issues of responsibility will be resolved later.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager agreed to contact customer services about the issues with Love Clean Street app and report back to the panel. 

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that there is a risk when providing a skip for residents it will reinforce the message that you can dump rubbish anywhere and the Council will remove it for free and encourage poor behaviour. A better approach suggested is working with colleagues in Public Health to identify specific areas and offer support and education people to encourage people to do the right thing.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that payments for FPN fines and Court costs are sent to Council. The money from issuing fines is used to invest in developments such as smart cameras and target hardening on orphan land to avoid having to spend money on cleaning the area when litter is blown onto the site.

A panel commented on the issue of fly tipping involving commercial offenders and queried the approach to managing litter from larger commercial public events.

The Section Leader: Fly Tipping reassured the panel as regards issuing fines that where the Council get information and evidence, involving a business or resident then action will be taken. The Section Leader added that the Council works closely with neighbouring authorities to tackle issues of cross border fly tipping incidents.

The Section Leader suggested that the maximum £400 fixed penalty notice may be adequate for a one-off offence but incidents involving commercial companies dumping large amounts of waste collected for fee then more severe penalties should be available, such as seizing vehicles.

A panel member raised concerns about domestic and commercial waste being dumped in the ward. The issue of the high turnover of tenants in HMOs was highlighted as a challenge to the Council when dealing with repeated requests for replacement bins.

The suggestion of offering business more attractive trade waste collection service was proposed as a possible solution that should be considered. The issue of contaminated trade waste bins and fly tipping around bins was highlighted.

A panel member suggested information on refuse collection could added as a sticker to bins to help new tenants in HMOs whose first language is not English as an alternative to the Love Clean Streets app.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented on the challenges in educating residents in HMOs when the turnover is so high and would mean offering support to different people on a regular basis. An alternative approach is based on the idea that tenants may change but the bins for the property will stay the same.  There is work being done a develop a QR Code that will be added to a sticker and placed on the bins for HMO properties. The link would allow the tenant to scan the code and choose the language required which will give information on refuse collection and advice on how refuse waste can be disposed. The service is working with private sector housing providers and the idea of including in the proposed selective licensing conditions a requirement to provide adequate means for people to get rid of their waste.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager acknowledged businesses are free to choose who and the amount they pay companies for trade waste collection services, which the Council has no control over. The Council has an excellent commercial waste collection business and continues to develop different projects and pilot initiatives to try and address the concerns highlighted.

A panel member welcomed the plans to purchase new CCTV cameras and commented the critical role in dealing with fly tipping, particular on private land.

A panel member commented on the recent decision by South Staffordshire Council to increase the level of fixed penalty fines to £1000 and suggested that the Council should follow this change. There was concern that the people living in South Staffordshire may be more willing to fly tip in Wolverhampton and an increase in the maximum would also send an important message to the public.

The Environmental Place Based Development Manager commented that the need to carefully consider the policy implications of increasing the maximum fine, highlighting the situation where a fine is not paid would involve further court action.

There was also concern about the deterrent effect of a higher maximum fine on commercial operators and the impact for individuals and whether they would be able to pay the higher fee. The current maximum fee level of £400 was considered to a deterrent. The Environmental Place Based Development Manager reassured the panel about wanting to take the appropriate enforcement action.

The Cabinet Member commented that he was very proud of the work done since his appointment to make the issue of tackling fly tipping a priority and hoped that the panel has seen this evening examples of how innovation and intelligence is being used to improve the situation. The success of the prosecutions because of Shop a Tipper campaign was highlighted and the service will continue to be proactive in media and promotional material.

The Cabinet Member welcomed the positive comments from panel members about the work being done to tackle the issue of fly tipping and agreed to consider further the ideas suggested during the meeting.

The panel discussed the merits of the recommendation to Cabinet to consider the increasing the maximum level of FPN fines for fly tipping from £400 to £1,000.

There was agreement about need for a decision about any proposed increase in the maximum fine to be proportionate and also consider the individual’s financial circumstances.

Resolved:

The panel recommendations to the Cabinet Member to consider.

1.    To avoid duplication of waste collection services between the Council and Wolverhampton Homes that the service provided by Wolverhampton Homes should be brought back in-house.

2.    Further work to improve the fly tipping collection service that will address issues highlighted by the panel during the meeting.

3.    The introduction of an upper limit of £1000 maximum for fly tipping, but it should be proportionate and consider a person’s financial circumstances.

4.    The Council’s bulky item collection service should be promoted further on the Council website and the material should also be available in written form.