6 April 2006
New powers to combat environmental crime

New council powers to crack down on environmental crimes including graffiti and fly-posting came into force today. Measures under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 enable local authorities in England and Wales to issue £80 on-the-spot fines.

People want to live in clean, safe and quiet neighbourhoods and councils now have the power to make this happen. Until today, councils have had too little power to tackle the people who blight the local area. Local authorities have been asking government for greater power for years and now they have these measures they will be able to use them to literally clean up the streets.

Who can issue a fine? What is the amount of a fine? Do councils have to use these powers? What happens if someone refuses to pay the fine? What happens to the money collected? How strict should councils be in issuing fines? Links to further information

Heavy-handed issue of FPN's will probably be avoided and warnings given if people make an effort to correct their offence. But if people continue to cause a nuisance and disregard the law then fines would be issued.

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005

Defra news release:
A fine mess: 40% of fines for littering remain unpaid

Statistics from Defra for the issue of FPN's based on returns from local authorities

back to top

Councils will train teams of enforcers, who will have the power to fine anyone they catch committing environmental crime. Enforcers will be on the lookout for anyone who scrawls graffiti on walls, puts up fly-posters, deliberately drops litter or fails to clean up after their dog. They will be able to demand that immediate action be taken, and also have the power to issue Fixed-Penalty Notices (FPN's).

back to top

All Councils have these new powers but they do not have a legal duty to use them. However, a recent MORI poll placed clean streets third, behind only low-level crime and good health services, in a survey of what makes somewhere a 'good place to live'. Tackling environmental crime is clearly important to residents and it is expected that all councils will choose to use them.

back to top

The amount of each fine can vary but with maximums set as:

£80: Graffiti and fly-posting

also
£80: litter, fly-tipping, leaflet distribution and dog fouling
£100: burglar alarms, 'nuisance' vehicle repairs:
£200 - abandoning vehicles

Failure to pay within 14 days will see offenders taken to court.

back to top

Local authorities can use their fixed penalty receipts to help meet the cost of certain specified functions.

As of April 2006 local authorities categorised as 'excellent' or 'good' under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment have the freedom and flexibility to be able to spend the receipts on any function.