The issuing of fixed penalty notices is one of the means by
which the problem of littering is being tackled within
Tamworth.
Set out below are some of the more common Q & As associated
with Fixed Penalty Notices.
I have been issued a Fixed Penalty Notice for littering
– I have heard that I don’t have to pay the full amount if I pay it
quickly?
That is correct, the
standard cost of a Fixed Penalty Notice for littering is £80, but
if this is paid within 7 days of issue then the cost is £50.
Can I Appeal against a Fixed Penalty Notice I have been
issued?
There are no formal grounds
of appeal against a Fixed Penalty Notice. This is because a Fixed
Penalty Notice is an invitation for you to effectively cancel your
liability to prosecution. In essence this means that if you agree
that an offence has been committed by you then by paying the sum of
money specified no further action in the form of a prosecution for
the offence will be undertaken by the Council. This method of
dealing with offences not only saves the time involved for everyone
(including the offender) in prosecuting cases at Court, but the
cost associated with a Fixed Penalty Notice is likely to be
substantially lower than any fine imposed by the Courts. For
example the maximum penalty which can be imposed by the Courts for
littering is £2,500.
But I don’t agree that I committed the offence for which
I have received a Fixed Penalty
Notice?
If you do not agree that you
committed the offence for which you received the Fixed Penalty
Notice then the matter will be dealt with through formal
prosecution via the Courts. It will then be up to the Court, on
receiving evidence, to determine whether or not an offence was
committed and therefore whether or not any penalty should be
imposed. Effectively this means that the formal Court route becomes
the mechanism for those wishing to appeal a Fixed Penalty Notice.
It should be noted that the financial penalty imposed by the Courts
can be significantly greater than that which is imposed through a
Fixed Penalty Notice.
I don’t see why I should pay if there are no signs about
littering in the area where I dropped
it?
The Council is not required to
place signs in every street, road, highway or open park/space to
tell people not to litter or to inform them that litter patrols are
operating in the area. Litter legislation has been in force for
many years and littering in many parts of the UK is at such levels
that Local Authorities right across the country are now actively
issuing Fixed Penalty Notices in order to drive the message home to
those who spoil our Towns and Cities by carelessly discarding their
rubbish.
Why should I pay a Fixed Penalty Notice when there were
no litterbins nearby at the time?
As
with signage it is just not feasible for the council to place
litterbins in every street, road and highway in the borough, though
of course every effort is made to place bins where they are most
needed and where there are the greatest levels of pedestrian
footfall, such as in town centre, school routes and major shopping
areas. Where bins are not available then it is up to everyone to
act responsibly and make arrangements to either take their litter
home or carry it until a litterbin is available.
I received a Fixed Penalty Notice for stubbing out a
cigarette on the ground or discarding it, surely that can’t be
considered littering? Wrong, litter includes not only
cigarette butts but chewing gum also. In many ways these items are
more of a nuisance and more expensive to clean up than other items
of rubbish.
But cigarette stubs aren’t really waste as they can’t be
placed in litterbins because they will catch
fire?
Smokers are responsible for
ensuring that they completely extinguish their cigarettes before
placing them in the bin. Cigarette waste is the same as any other
waste in terms of litter laws and you can be issued with a Fixed
Penalty Notice for not disposing of cigarette stubs properly.
Obviously care should be taken to avoid any risk of fire and in
particular cigarette ends should be completely extinguished on the
stubbing plates provided on many litterbins before the stub is
thrown into the bin. There is also no reason why smokers (who are
well aware that their habit means that they will be faced with
disposing of their cigarette waste) cannot carry portable ‘butt
bins’ with them or create their own by placing some soil or sand in
a small tin. Information on types of portable butt bins can
be found at:
www.keepbritaintidy.org/Campaigns/pastcampaigns/cigarette/portableashtray/Default.aspx
But I wasn’t given a warning, surely that is not
fair?
Our education campaign in
terms of the litter problem has been continual in recent years
through poster campaigns, information leaflets, press articles and
Schools Litter education, ensuring that our young people are
informed and engaged. On top of this organisations like the Keep
Britain Tidy do an excellent job in helping us get the
anti-littering message over. Of course all the publicity in the
world is of no use whatsoever if the message is being ignored? So
we must take our enforcement duties seriously as well and back up
what is a serious and important message with real action. This is
the aim of our enforcement patrols which seek to target those who
choose to ignore the littering laws which the rest of us abide
by.
If I am caught I will just pick the litter up at that
time and nothing will happen then will
it?
Wrong, remember the littering
offence relates to the dropping of litter and walking away once you
have dropped it. So whether or not you volunteer to pick up your
litter afterwards you have committed an offence and will be issued
with a Fixed Penalty Notice.
This is all a bit petty isn’t it, what’s the big deal
about a few crisp packets and cigarette stubs
anyway?
Littering is not only a
serious blight on our environment but very costly to the Council as
well. Here are a few facts and figures:
£858 million is spent each year in England and Wales keeping the
streets clean. That is £2.3M per day.
In Tamworth it costs £750, 000 per year to clean the streets of
litter and dog fouling.
We collect over 200 bags of street litter per week.