Saturday 11 June 2016

£80 spot fines for littering in Brent start on Monday

The 12 month experiment in the use of private contractor wardens to issue fixed penalty fines for littering in Brent will start on Monday.  The scheme came under scrutiny when first suggested earlier this year  LINK    LINK

This is the Council's official press release:

 Litter bugs beware, because as of Monday (13 June 2016), uniformed patrol officers will be on hand to issue £80 on-the-spot fines for waste offences in Brent.

Private security firm, Kingdom, have been chosen to run an innovative 12 month pilot to help keep Brent's streets clean and litter-free.

Dedicated patrol officers will be deployed to hot spot areas in the borough with the purpose of issuing Fixed Penalty Notices to anyone caught in the act of committing a waste offence, including littering, paan spitting and not cleaning up after their dogs.

This scheme will support the efforts of our existing Waste Enforcement Team, who work tirelessly to investigate littering and illegally dumped rubbish offences and prosecute offenders.

We have been working closely with Veolia, our waste and recycling contractor, and both residents and Councillors, to identify particular areas for enforcement activity, known for littering and dog fouling.

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Brent Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, said:
"The vast majority of residents here in Brent love where they live and take great care of our streets and parks. More and more residents are working with us to keep the borough clean by reporting illegally dumped rubbish via the Cleaner Brent app and organising their own clean up days. So it's really frustrating that there are still a minority of people whose actions are spoiling Brent for the rest of us.

"We're determined to take action against this anti-social behaviour. I hope that the possibility of getting a fine will make people think twice before dropping litter or allowing dogs to foul our pavements.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone in Brent to get rid of their waste legally, to recycle more and take greater care and pride in the local area. This pilot scheme is part of our Love Where you Live campaign and sends a clear message that choosing to drop chewing gum or flicking a cigarette butt instead of disposing of it properly will have very real consequences."
Renu Kaul, Vice-Chairman of Sudbury Town Residents Association (STRA), an organisation committed to keeping Brent's streets clean and green, is full of praise for the initiative and said:
"I am over the moon to learn that Brent Council has appointed patrol officers to enforce action amongst litter offenders. I believe that this will make a dramatic difference in Sudbury and the rest of Brent.

"We need to continue to advocate a zero tolerance policy to littering, dog fouling and paan spitting and I really feel that the presence of enforcement officers will send out a positive message to the community that we need to take responsibility for disposing of litter and recycling properly."


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Its astonishing that a council supposedly short on cash can see fit to give away potential income that could go towards youth centres, social workers or even pot-holes to a private company.

If you have no money, you have to do the household jobs yourself! This is a shocking example of outsourcing that demonstrates Labour can't be trusted with public money.