Agenda item

Members of the Partnership were provided with the opportunity to update the rest of the Partners on any developments within their individuals districts which may be of interest, and the following was reported:

North Kesteven District Council – the authority was looking at its charging regime for green waste.

South Kesteven District Council – officers were continuing to try and bridge the gaps from funding arrangements.

Boston Borough Council – nothing to report.

South Holland District Council – a business case for green waste collection scheme was being worked on.  The best method for collection was with wheelie bins, however South Holland did not have them so there would be a cost implication.  It was hoped that green waste collection would commence in April 2016 subject to member approval.

East Lindsey District Council – officers were looking at different options for service provision.

City of Lincoln Council – a fly tipping initiative was underway.  When fly-tipped waste was collected the location would be marked as city council aware, and door knocking and a letter drop would be carried out in the immediate area.  The trial was coming to an end and officers would be examining how effective it had been.

It was confirmed that if officers could get enough evidence, the City of Lincoln Council would always seek a prosecution for fly tipping.

A discussion followed and some of the points raised by members of the partnership included the following:

·         It would be interesting to know the outcomes at the end of the evaluation process.

·         The City Council had written to the Minister as there was a gap in the legislation regarding fly tipping, as students clearing out rented property at the end of the year were dumping rubbish on the street, however the legislation only allowed for residents of the property to be prosecuted.

·         Officers reported it was very difficult to obtain 'concrete' evidence.

·         There had been over 1000 incidents of fly tipping reported in South Kesteven during the year.

·         South Kesteven were planning to run a campaign regarding the Duty of Care regulations.  It was noted that North Kesteven had successfully prosecuted using the Duty of Care regulations.

·         It was suggested that a few successful prosecutions would help to deter potential fly tipping.

·         The City of Lincoln did investigate every incident of fly tipping which was reported.

·         There had been some high profile cases of residents being fined for leaving bins on the street.

·         The City of Lincoln would be employing an enforcement officer, as it was believed that the fines obtained would fund the post.

·         Fly tipping was a countywide issues, and it was suggested that County News was a good place to highlight the issue.

·         North Kesteven was very keen to pursue this issue, however it was very resource intensive work, and it was estimated that the time spent investigating fly tipping was the equivalent of a full time employee.

·         Members were informed that local authorities could apply to reclaim operational costs as well when going to court for a fly tipping offence.

·         It was suggested that authorities should avoid reminding people that they will investigate the waste that was fly tipped, as people may start to ensure that they remove any personal details from waste that was fly tipped.

·         It was noted that Lincolnshire County Council had cut its fly tipping gang as part of the budget review.  It was acknowledged that the team which had been running for eight years had added great value, but it had had to be cut as part of the savings plan.