No litter tickets issued in Perth for three years

Council dealing with littering problem in ‘different way’ – as seagulls menace grows

Perth and Kinross litterbugs have escaped punishment for three years as the council has not issued one fine for the crime in that time.

While other councils have punished hundreds of litter louts, Perth and Kinross Council said it prefers to “educate people... rather than using the big stick all the time.”

The finding was made in The Courier’s Don’t Be Gullible investigation, which showed a spike in seagull numbers in the same timeframe.

Kinross-shire councillor Mike Barnacle said: “Either this tells us we live in an extremely clean local authority area or the council aren’t being vigilant enough in penalising people for littering.” Environment committee viceconvener Councillor Mike Williamson said: “We are dealing with it in a different way.”

A Tayside council has failed to hand out a single littering fine in three years amid a corresponding spike in Scottish gull numbers.

Our Don’t Be Gullible investigation has revealed a dramatic disparity in how local authorities tackle the issue of littering.

Fife Council handed out 519 fines between 2013 and 2015, more than double Dundee’s 252, however Perth and Kinross didn’t issue a single ticket.

Angus, which records its fines by financial year, imposed just 45 tickets between 2013/14 and 2015/16.

Independent Kinross-shire councillor Mike Barnacle suggested the council hadn’t been tackling the issue properly and said he was “surprised” by the statistics.

“Either this tells us we live in an extremely clean local authority area or the council aren’t being vigilant enough in penalising people for littering. I would say from my perspective, that you couldn’t say we were any different from other local authority areas.”

Mike Williamson, vice-convener of Perth and Kinross environment committee, defended the figures.

“We are dealing with it in a different way,” he said.

“We are trying to educate people about littering. We are also reviewing how parking officers look at littering and enforcing laws. It’s all part of a national littering strategy.

“For me, I think it is about educating people and going with it that way, rather than using the big stick all the time.”

Many argue a crackdown on littering is required to reduce the urban gull surge.

Carole Noble of Keep Scotland Beautiful said local indicators showed littering was leading to a deterioration in environment quality.

She added: “We are working with communities, local authorities and the private sector to raise awareness of the issue, to provide support and training, and to take practical clean up action.

“We must all work together to deliver significant environmental improvements – but ultimately it is individuals who need to change their behaviour and stop treating our country with such little respect.”

A Perth and Kinross Council spokeswoman said their approach is based on the local authority’s litter action plan.

She added: “This plan focuses on the three main intervention themes of information, infrastructure and enforcement and has proven to be very successful.

“The results of the Keep Scotland Beautiful annual Local Environmental Audit Management System (LEAMS) report in 2015/16 showed that Perth and Kinross Council is maintaining good standards despite persistent littering. In terms of the public perception of litter, it was found that 98.7% of sites audited were seen as acceptable. This indicates the plan is working effectively.

“Although the council does not employ dedicated litter enforcement officers, certain council officers have authority, in addition to their normal duties, to issue Fixed Penalty Notices, (FPNs), for littering. The issuing of FPNs is however dependent on incidents of littering being witnessed.”