Council draws on legal powers to deal with litter and waste

The amount of legal notices served by the council in one year demonstrate the range of powers the council has to keep Leeds clean and safe.

Throughout 2014/2015, environmental action staff issued 256 legal notices requiring individuals and business to take action on waste, litter, leafleting and street trading.

Handing out fixed penalty notices is the result of a lengthy process where officers work with individuals and businesses to resolve particular problems. When advice or legal notices are ignored, officers can issue the fines.

Over the 2014/2015 financial year:

• 110 fixed penalty notices were given to businesses for failing to deal with their commercial waste appropriately.
• 41 residents were given fixed penalty notices for offences relating to their household waste.
• 48 people failed to comply with litter clearing notices, which, for example, require people to remove piles of rubbish left in gardens.
• 8 people fell foul of the rules requiring permission to hand out fliers in specific locations.
• 29 people were fined for trading on the street in the city centre when not allowed to.
• 20 people were given fixed penalty notices for not complying with community protection notices – under Section 43 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 the council can now issue the community protection notices requiring people to take action when their conduct is having a detrimental impact on their community.

Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for environmental protection and community safety, said:

“We all have a duty of care to help keep Leeds clean and safe. As a local authority that duty is legally-binding, but residents and businesses have a significant part to play too.

“The conversations we have with residents and businesses so they understand their responsibilities are vital. We want to enable people and communities, that way they can help us to help them and create and retain a sense of civic pride.

“Our environmental action teams are having that dialogue day in, day out, and it’s an ongoing process. Sometimes it’s a balancing act, determining the right course of action that will deliver the best results.

“However, when these discussions become one-sided, we have a broad spectrum of powers we can call upon. Unless you’ve been caught red-handed dropping litter, the point at which we’re giving you a fixed penalty notice is due to the fact that you, as an individual or business, have left our officers with no other choice.”

The power the council has includes:

Environmental Protection Act 1990 s47 - s47ZA –commercial waste

Environmental Protection Act 1990 s46 - s47ZA - household waste

Anti Social Behaviour Act 2014 S52

Environmental Protection Act 1990 s34a

Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 s5 b

Environmental Protection Act 1990 94B Schedule 3 A

Environmental Protection Act 1990 s94a LCN

Environmental Protection Act 1990 s88 or Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act s59 - Littering

FPN for Pedalry