Agenda item

To consider the annual enviro-crime report and action plan. 

13.1          The report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 110-136, provided an annual summary of progress made tackling enviro-crime in 2018/19.  Members were asked to consider the report and action plan.

13.2           The Head of Community Services explained that responsibility for enviro-crime rested with the Environmental Health Team.  This was a small but very busy team which also carried out food hygiene inspections in over 750 food establishments across the borough; undertook environmental protection work such as monitoring air quality and contaminated land as well as commenting on planning applications; supported the licensing service; delivered Disabled Facilities Grants; and reacted to service requests.  The Environmental Health Manager advised that the original action plan for tackling enviro-crime was attached at Appendix 1 to the report; this had focused on putting in place the procedures and general infrastructure to allow a more robust, targeted approach to enviro-crime.  This was built upon in the revised plan, attached at Appendix 2 to the report, which also focused more on making connections within local communities and developing joint working arrangements with partner agencies.  Enviro-crimes had originally been considered collectively but, during 2018/19, they had been separated out into individual enviro-crimes in order to allow comparison and identification of trends going forward. 

13.3          With regard to fly-tipping, Members were advised that majority of fly-tips reported were not witnessed and did not appear to contain any relevant information that would allow a further investigation to take place, for example, residential or business addresses, therefore it was more difficult to secure a prosecution; however, it was hoped that increased Officer presence across the borough would give more chance of catching offenders.  When the last report had been presented to the Committee in January, Members had been informed that a case involving a number of waste offences had been taken to court in November 2018 but one of the individuals had not attended, therefore this had not been resolved and a warrant had been issued for their arrest.  Over the Christmas period, both parties had been arrested with one pleading guilty and the other claiming their innocence.  Another court date had been set but the individual had absconded again and the Environmental Health Team was working with the Police to find them.  In terms of littering, the Environmental Health Manager explained that it was a criminal offence for a person to drop, throw down, leave or deposit litter in a public place and offenders could receive a fixed penalty fine of up to £75 so this was something he would encourage people to report.  In terms of littering from a vehicle, a change in legislation meant that this was the responsibility of the registered keeper so offenders could be actively pursued.  With respect to dog fouling, a Public Space Protection Order had been introduced in July 2018 which made it an offence for any person in control of a dog to fail to pick up after the dog or fail to produce, on request, a means of picking up after the dog. Offenders could be issued with a fixed penalty of £100.  Parish Councils were working with the Environmental Health Team to replace existing ‘no dog fouling’ signs across the borough to reflect the new legislation and were also accompanying Officers during patrols of ‘hotspots’.  It was noted that the number of abandoned vehicles had remained relatively consistent throughout the year, although there had been a significant reduction in quarter three when the Police had carried out several operations targeting vehicles.  In terms of noise, Officers now had access to a new piece of noise monitoring equipment which could easily be put into properties to gather evidence, as well as a remote control to enable people with mobility issues to carry out recording, and these were both being well-used.

13.4           In general terms, the Council had been quite successful with enforcement but it was important to bear in mind the resources required to gather evidence, conduct interviews under caution and ultimately put a case together.  There were currently nine cases which were likely to result in fixed penalty or prosecution.  Community engagement was vitally important and Officers were working closely with Town and Parish Councils and community groups.  It was noted that a specific project was being carried out in Coriander Drive where there were a variety of different issues and its success would be dependent on various agencies working together to take a holistic approach.

13.5           A Member questioned why court cases and prosecutions were not publicised in the local media and the Corporate Services Manager advised that the Communications Team did put this information on social media.  She felt there was a need to work more closely with the Environmental Health Team to push these messages out every time, although she pointed out that the Gloucestershire Echo and the Citizen were not always interested in these stories for print so this was likely to be online.  Another Member expressed the view that a lot of people within his area did not know how to do anything about enviro-crimes and he queried if anything could be done to make it easier to report incidents.  The Head of Community Services advised that the Report It facility was on the front page of the Council website and the vast majority of enviro-crimes were reported in that way.  There was no reason why social media could not be used more to engage with the public and he confirmed that the team would be putting together targeted social media messages over the next two months in relation to the Public Space Protection Order which would include how these enviro-crimes could be reported.  The Chief Executive stressed that Officers tried to make it easy to report issues and made use of social media and Borough News etc. to promote actions to reduce enviro-crimes but he indicated that Members could also report incidents on behalf of their residents and Officers would be happy to work with Members on that.

13.6           A Member questioned whether consideration had been given to car idling as an enviro-crime as current legislation allowed the local authority to issue a fixed penalty fine of £20 and he suggested that would be worth exploring at certain times, for instance, during the school run.  The Head of Community Services indicated that this had been mentioned to him earlier in the week and it was not something which he had considered before but he was happy to look at the legislation to see if this could be done within existing resources.  Another Member noted that the CCTV cameras were not fit for purpose and she questioned whether it was necessary to buy new ones.  In response, the Environmental Health Manager explained that the previous cameras were not encrypted and therefore were invalid under the General Data Protection Regulation.  In his experience, CCTV cameras varied in their usefulness and they could be difficult to put in place, particularly in rural areas as they needed a power source and could be stolen.  He had found them to be most effective in urban areas where they could be mounted on lampposts, communal bin stores etc.  One possibility was to work with the Police to share their resources; however, whilst Officers had a very good working relationship with the Police and they undertook a number of joint incidents, ultimately the Police would take priority if they needed the cameras.  One difficulty was that technology changed so quickly that, if the Council committed to buying new cameras, there was a risk that they would soon be out of date.  A Member requested that a report be brought back to the Committee setting out the various options and the cost implications.

13.7           A Member questioned whether a vehicle declared as ‘off the road’, i.e. with a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN), which was on Council land could be treated as an abandoned vehicle and was advised that untaxed or SORN vehicles – whether on public or private land – were not something the Council looked at.  Another Member went on to express the view that the anti-dog fouling posters which had been handed out to Parish Councils were very effective and he felt that Members should all be given some.  The Head of Community Services indicated that he had provided posters to all Members previously but he undertook to ensure that a new supply was made available in Members’ pigeon holes within the next few weeks.  In response to a query as to when visits to Parish Councils would commence, the Environmental Health Manager explained that this had started earlier in the year but had been put on hold due to local elections.  Officers had produced a schedule and were in the process of contacting Parish Councils to arrange the visits which were likely to take place every month for the next 12 months, following which there would be patrols each month at various hotspots to maximise the visual presence across the borough.  A Member asked that Councillors be kept informed as to when the patrols were taking place and the Environmental Health Manager undertook to circulate the schedule once it had been finalised.  A Member questioned whether Officers visited schools to discuss the importance of not littering, dog fouling etc. and was advised that, unfortunately, this was not currently possible due to lack of resources.

13.8           Having considered the information provided it was

RESOLVED          That the enviro-crime annual report and action plan be NOTED.