Agenda item

(To receive a presentation from Hertfordshire Waste Partnership on their Fly-Tipping Campaign)

The Partnership received a presentation from Duncan Jones, Chairman of the Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group, which covered a number of topics, including a summary of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership's S.C.R.A.P. fly tipping campaign.

The Partnership was provided with the opportunity to ask questions in relation to the information contained within the presentation and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was commented that this was a very interesting and thought provoking presentation.

·         There was a very proactive Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire and had held a fly tipping round table in February 2019.

·         A House of Commons Select Committee on fly tipping had picked up on two issues which were fines not being dealt to the maximum and the inequality of costs falling on landowners who had to clear up fly tipped waste.  In Lincolnshire, the majority of farmers would deal with some form of fly tipping every year, with an average cost per year of £1000.

·         In partnership was the way to achieve outstanding results, and West Lindsey District Council was keen to get started and join the campaign.

·         In terms of fly tipping on private land, it was noted that there was a trial taking place in Hertfordshire with the PCC who had access to funds through the Proceeds of Crime Act, and if a farmer suffered a fly tipping incident they could apply to that fund to cover the costs of removing the waste and to protect their land.

·         It was commented this was an excellent campaign.

·         The quality of case file for prosecutions was referenced and it was noted it did cost a lot of money in terms of time and expertise to build a large case file.

·         It was queried what the definition of fly tipping was, and it was noted that it was currently two pages long.  Generally, it was anything from a black bag and above.  There were 10 boroughs and districts involved in the group and so the definition had evolved.  The inspectors needed to have the freedom to say whether it constituted fly tipping.  It was not part of the toolkit, but this could be provided to the LWP.

·         It was noted that there used to be a magistrates forum which held training days, but recently they had died out.  It would be interesting to see what appetite there would be across the county for restarting the sessions.

·         Magistrates training days had been held in other areas, to try and get better results from the courts.

·         In relation to the enforcement officer academy, it was queried whether it had been a one off event, or would authorities have access to it if they signed up to the campaign.  It was confirmed that it was a one off event and involved 7 borough councils and lasted 5 days in total.  It culminated in a day in court and involved training on how to put together a case file and present it in court. It would be possible to re-run it for Lincolnshire authorities, but there would be a cost.  However, the Fly-Tipping Group had been in existence for three years and people had moved on so there may be a need to refresh training.

·         It was confirmed that Duncan Jones was employed by Hertfordshire County Council and his primary role was Partnership Development Manager, and the Fly Tipping Group was a product of the Waste Partnership.  His role as Chairman was to facilitate the process and manage the different work streams.

·         In terms of intelligence sharing, there were some challenges sharing data amongst the partners due to data protection and GDPR.  The Partnership was advised that this was being worked on, and it was highlighted that Kent was very good at this and had established relationships between all stakeholders.

·         It was noted that if fly tippers were pursued through anti-social behaviour there were a lot more ways that the activity could be disrupted.

RESOLVED

            That the Strategic Officer Working Group consider this in more detail and come up with a way forward.