North Croydon
Streets Commission.
To submit evidence go to its website at
Attack on Labour Leader Newman
A
question from a member of the public Andrew Stevenson enabled Cabinet Member
for Highways & Environmental Services Cllr Phil Thomas to personally attack
Labour Leader Mike Newman alleging that he had stated he would not report
fly-tipping. This one of several
personal attacks on Newman. Failing to act as an impartial Chair the Mayor did
not give him a right of reply, even when requested from the public gallery.
Allocation of
Additional Resources
·
£200,000
has been allocated ‘to increase the capacity of the Enforcement team in order that
they may increase the attention given to fly tipping offences and other environmental
violations. The Council is currently undertaking a restructure to fulfil this
objective. It is expected that this additional money will allow for 4
additional officers.’
·
A
further £30,000 ‘will be spent on staff overtime and a specific fly tipping
programme which establishes a number of preventative measures including
additional CCTV cameras, alley gates, additional bins and other preventative
measures.’
Joy Prince, one
of Labour’s Waddon prospective candidates for the local elections Joy Prince submitted
a question about fly-tipping between Borough Hill and Harrison’s Rise and
wondering what proactive action’ the Council intended to take ‘to catch, or at
least deter, the persistent officer(s). Cllr Thomas explained that the Area
Enforcement Team (AET) had visited the area and made arrangements to get the
area cleared. ‘Both of these roads are swept weekly, and as such any items
would be removed as part of this cleans. The team will undertake regular
patrols though to ensure that it stays tidy and try and identify anybody that
is depositing waste illegally.’ While the area ‘does not flag up as a
particular hotspot for fly tipping … we will keep this under review through the
ongoing patrols and if there is a regular pattern emerging at this location the
team can employ a number of measures a such as signage, door knocks and letter
drops to inform residents of the correct way to dispose of their waste and seek
further information on who may be responsible. If necessary the team can also
undertake surveillance and install CCTV.’
North Croydon
Streets Commission
Part
of the Party wrangling has been triggered by Croydon North Labour MP Steve Reed
setting up the Independent Streets Commission. Labour Leader Tony Newman asked
Tory Leader Mike Fisher when he would plan to give evidence to Croydon’s
independent streets commission. Fisher denied it was independent.
· ‘I
am aware that the Labour Member for Croydon North, Steve Reed MP, has sponsored
a commission in North Croydon, the website for which states that he is also a
panel member.’
· ‘I understand that this same commission is being promoted by Labour Councillors
and do, correct me if I am wrong here, this is the same commission that
Councillor Newman said in this very chamber would “shame the Tories into action”.’
· ‘I
am aware of that commission but I am not aware of an independent streets
commission.’
The Pilot Role
of Kingdom Security
A
series of Councillor tabled questions have enabled Cabinet Member for Community
Safety & Public Protection Cllr Simon Hoar to explain the purpose and
results so far of the 6 months pilot scheme using Kingdom Security for six
months to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for such offences as litter. This
contract started in August, with the company’s workers operating in the Town
Centre.
Hoar
explains:
· that
the pilot increases the number of officers on the street and helps to keep the
Borough clean at no cost to the Council’s existing Area Enforcement Officers (AEOs)
have not been replaced and are still issuing Fixed Penalty Notices for
littering and fly tipping.
· It
is ‘additional to the AEO’s and is designed to be cost neutral to the Council.
· For
each £75 FPN that is legitimately issued the Council pay the contractor £45. Each
monthly invoice therefore varies due to the number of FPNs that have been issued’
· ‘The
pilot clearly supports both parties’ interest as we are receiving additional
enforcement officers to help keep Croydon clean and save money on clearing up
litter.’
Number of
Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs)
1,571
FPNs were issued in the Town Centre by Kingdom: cigarette litter 1,446, dog
control order offences 3, food waste 13, and other litter/printed material 109.
The
AET has issued 232 FPNs since 1 April, including one dog control order offence
and 40 for fly tipping.
‘1030
of these fines have been paid to date although many of the fines issued in the
last few weeks will legitimately not have been paid yet as people have 28 days
to settle the fine. The monthly payment rate is consistently around 65%. In
total 255 appeals have been received with 15 of those upheld and the fine written
off.’
‘The
low level of fines’ of for dog control offences ‘reflects how difficult it is
for officers to catch people letting their dogs to foul and not clearing up after
them.’ ‘Any funding that it available after Kingdom has been paid for their
work will be used to fund prosecutions against people who have not paid the
FPN. It is too early in the pilot to determine whether there will be any surplus
income in addition to this but if there is it will be reinvested in
environmental projects and improvements such as signage, bins or preventative
activity.’
‘The
Council have now appointed solicitors to act on its behalf, prepared the case
files, and will be prosecuting the first batch of 50 people in early December.’
‘There are
plans to deploy’ the Kingdom ‘team to various district centres by early
December.’
How to report
problems
Finally
Cllr Phil Tomas explained that Councillors can report fly tipping, potholes,
etc in their Wards in the same way as members of the public.
·
Tel:
020 8726 6200
·
Via
the report it section on www.croydon.gov.uk
‘The
Council is also about to launch a reporting ‘app’ for use on mobile phones
whereby many requests can be photographed and uploaded and will be
automatically passed on to the correct team for a response.’
‘For
more complex or longstanding issues Councillors should continue to go directly
to the relevant officers so that they can investigate and ensure that the
service is providing the best possible response.’
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