Agenda item

To consider progress being made in tackling enviro-crime across the borough.

71.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 84-90, which set out the progress made in tackling enviro-crime across the borough.

71.2          The Head of Community Services advised that the report before Members was an interim report setting out the actions in respect of enviro-crimes between April and September 2018.  The previous enviro-crimes action plan had been delivered and the team was now in the process of drawing up a new action plan for 2019/20 which would be brought to the Committee as part of the annual report in June 2019.  The Environmental Health Manager drew attention to Page No. 86, Paragraph 2.1 of the report, which set out the metrics currently recorded and the figures for the first two quarters of 2018/19.   With regard to littering, he advised that the number of complaints had been relatively consistent and was generally low; however, it was intended to engage other Officers and Members to act as ‘eyes and ears’ in order to broaden the Council’s presence across the borough and to maximise the chances of catching people littering.  In terms of dog fouling, a Public Space Protection Order had been put in place earlier in the year which increased the fine that could be imposed and required dog walkers to produce, on request, a means for picking up after their dog.  In terms of the latter, he stressed that it was not intended to take enforcement action straight away as it could be that people might have used the bags they had taken with them etc. but was intended to facilitate engagement, particularly with responsible dog owners.  An advertisement had been included in the Tewkesbury Borough News which had received positive feedback and Members were advised that it was intended to target specific hotspots so any suggestions would be welcomed.

71.3          In terms of enforcement action, Members were informed that a case involving a number of waste offences had been taken to court in November 2018 but the individual had not attended, therefore this had not been resolved and a warrant had been issued for their arrest.  A man had appeared in court in September 2018 in connection with a fly-tipping incident but, unfortunately, the Council had been unable to take this to trial as a key witness had no longer been available.  It was difficult to track down individuals when it was not necessarily a high Police priority; however, the Council did have a very good working relationship with the Police and had carried out a joint operation on rural crime in November 2018 which was something the Environmental Health Manager would be looking to repeat.  He went on to advise that a large number of the fixed penalties served in the first six months of the year related to incidents that occurred in and around the recycling centres at Morrison’s in Tewkesbury and Tesco in Bishop’s Cleeve.  Discussions had taken place with the Store Manager of Morrison’s as to whether CCTV could be installed but, due to budget and corporate restraints, he had taken the decision to restrict the recycling centre to textile banks only.  The impact on the recycling centre at Spring Gardens was being monitored and the Head of Community Services advised that there had been a significant report of fly-tipping during the previous week, which he had gone out to investigate himself, and he confirmed that evidence of at least four companies had been found so enforcement action would be taken.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that the problem at Tesco in Bishop’s Cleeve seemed to be quite significant and signs had subsequently been erected to indicate that the area was being monitored which had reduced the number of issues.  He noted that there had been a drop in the number of fixed penalty notices but pointed out that this was partly because there was a choice of pursuing a prosecution for fly-tipping rather than issuing a fixed penalty, and, depending on its nature and seriousness, that was often the preferred option. 

71.4          Members were advised that community engagement activity had been carried out in respect of dog fouling and fly-tipping and, whilst there were limitations in terms of what could be done, if Officers were made aware of hotspots then there were measures that could be employed to target those areas.  A range of complaints had been received by different partner agencies regarding issues in and around Coriander Drive, Churchdown and a multi-agency meeting had been held to develop a strategy for engaging with the local community and working with them to tackle anti-social issues.  This was considered to be a much more robust approach and one which would help residents take pride in their area.  The Head of Community Services indicated that, following the Community Services review, a new structure for Environmental Health was being introduced.  The report stated that this had been done in November 2018 but he clarified that it was a work in progress; existing staff had moved into their new roles and new members of staff would be starting work over the coming weeks and further recruitment to the remaining vacant posts was ongoing.  

71.5          A Member raised concern that dog fouling was as much of a problem as it had ever been, according to residents, so it did not appear that any action that had been taken was working.  Whilst he recognised that this was an interim report, he felt that more detail was required rather than just stating what had been done, for example, he wanted to know more about the potential of fining people for dog fouling.  The Head of Community Services indicated that he would take this on board for the next report; he had received an email which needed to be actioned in relation to fines and he committed to looking into that following the meeting.  Another Member was pleased to see the section on community engagement - it was a big job, but if Officers could get that level of support from the public, he felt it could be very effective.  The Head of Community Services explained that, under the new structure, Environmental Health would be divided into three teams based on geographical area which it was hoped would help in terms of taking ownership and communications etc.  A Member questioned how much publicity was given to enforcement as it was important to send a message that the Council was taking action.  Members were advised that action was reported on the Council’s website and across social media; whilst press releases were issued, they were not necessarily picked up.  Email updates had also been provided to Members over the last two months and that information had been passed to Town and Parish Councils to help engender ownership.  The Head of Community Services provided assurance that Officers were doing all they could but were reliant on the press running the stories.  A Member indicated that she had seen photographs of vehicles on social media which had been used to name and shame fly-tippers and she felt this could be a very useful platform in relation to enviro-crimes. 

71.6           In response to a general query regarding consistency of reports, the Head of Corporate Services indicated that the standard template for monitoring reports, which had previously been adopted by the Committee, had been circulated to Officers.  The Head of Corporate Services had advised that an action plan would be provided with the annual report in June and going forward.  On that basis, it was

RESOLVED          That the progress made in tackling enviro-crimes across the borough be NOTED.