Uncertainty over future of private litter enforcers

THE future of Kirklees Council’s private ‘litter police’ has not yet been decided, a top councillor has revealed.

Cheshire-based firm Kingdom has been in charge of enforcing littering, dog fouling and a range of other environmental policies since April last year.

Their official one-year trial ended on Tuesday with most people expecting the council to automatically renew the deal.

But a senior councillor has revealed the council has not yet committed to a permanent deal to continue their contract.

Cabinet member for enforcement, Clr Naheed Mather, told the Examiner the controversial firm was continuing for now on a “rolling contract” while officials investigated whether to continue the strict enforcement strategy.

Despite this, Kingdom is currently advertising for new Huddersfield enforcement officers, with a wage of £8.75 rising to £9.61 per hour after three months.

The news comes just days after the government announced it was allowing local authorities to double the maximum on-the-spot fine for littering and graffiti from £80 to £150.

Kirklees Council currently charges £75.

For the first time, local authorities can also use these littering penalties against vehicle owners if it can be proved litter was thrown from their car. The “default” lowest fine looks set to increase from £75 to £100.

Clr Mather said the new powers to charge bigger penalties had not yet been adopted by Kirklees.

And she said they were looking at whether handing out fixed penalties was the best way to continue.

“At this point in time we are still considering what’s the best option,” she said.

“Kingdom are on a four-week rolling contract while we look at a number of other options.

“We’ve not sure if fixed penalty is always the right way to approach this.

“The government is giving us the option to double the fine but we haven’t decided yet.

“We’re talking about getting community ownership and behavioural change over littering, so people know exactly what to expect.

“We’re not trigger-happy about handing out fines but we want our citizens to be responsible.

“At some point there needs to be a penalty to show that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable.”

Clr Mather indicated they were more likely to levy the maximum fine for repeat offenders.

Meanwhile, the news that fines could go up raises more questions about the contract Kingdom has with the council.

Kingdom and other enforcement firms used by local authorities, are thought to have deals where they get a percentage of each fixed penalty notice they hand out.

If the government is forcing councils to increase their fines, it means the private firms could be in line for a cash windfall for doing exactly the same work.

Kirklees Council has repeatedly refused to reveal what portion of the £75 littering fine Kingdom receives.

National newspapers have reported that it is usually a little over half or £45.

Kingdom was initially employed to launch a crackdown after Kirklees Council admitted it had no staff to do patrols.

Kingdom’s officers are motivated to get results through a commission scheme, which has led to it being accused of dubious tactics to catch members of the public out.

The Examiner has featured a number of stories of people who felt they were unfairly treated by the firm’s agents.

Last year, a BBC Panorama investigation exposed the methods used to make sure people pay the on-thespot fine, such as pretending to phone the police to intimidate people into paying the fine.

The government has said clearing up litter cost local councils almost £700 million last year, much of which was avoidable.

But it said it was clear that councils must not abuse the power to impose penalties.

It said councils should take into account local ability to pay when setting the level for penalties.

Environment Minister, Thérèse Coffey, said: “These new fines will tackle anti-social behaviour by hitting litter louts in the pocket, whether it’s litter that is thrown from a vehicle or dropped in the street.

“Littering is a scourge on our environment and we waste taxpayers’ money cleaning it up – funds which could be better spent in the community.

“We want to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it, and I encourage everyone to take responsibility for their litter and recycle more.”