More than £10,000 in penalties has been recovered in eight months alone
More than £10,000 in penalties has been recovered in eight months alone
Litter bugs across Liverpool could be slapped with heftier fines under city council plans to crackdown on environmental enforcement. Each year, Liverpool Council spends around £12.5m on cleaning litter and fly-tipping across the city.
The local authority describes this as “entirely preventable expenditure” which could be reduced if non-compliant residents and businesses “managed their waste responsibly.” As a result, the city council’s cabinet could be asked to adopt a significant rise on how much it charges those responsible for leaving their litter behind.
Currently, people caught dropping their waste are slapped with a fixed penalty notice (FPN) of £80. In May, the city council’s executive team will consider a plan to hike that amount up to £200.
This comes as new documents revealed that more than 100 FPNs issued in an eight month period generated £10,000 in fines from offenders. According to a report going to the city’s sustainable, safe and thriving neighbourhoods committee ahead of its meeting next week, litter louts will be made to pay more than double the current penalty from later this year subject to approval by cabinet.
The sanction will be reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days. Similar increases are being touted for those responsible for fly-tipping, with the current level set at £400, up to £1,000.
A tiered approach is being considered which seeks to acknowledge the seriousness of the offence and the estimated cost of removing fly tipped waste. New levels of penalty will be based on a criteria identified by investigating officers, with the dumping of up to three bags equating to a £500 fine.
More than three bags but less than a van load would cost £750 while a load equivalent to a light commercial van like a Ford Transit or “clear evidence of waste being commercial, or business waste transported by an unlicensed waste carrier” would land those responsible with a £1,000 penalty. Unwelcome graffiti and fly-posting is also facing sterner punishment too with the current level of penalty at £100 up to £500. It is proposed that fines would go up to £200 from May.
Of the 106 FPNs issued between June last year and February 2025, 81 have been paid totalling £10,480. Half a dozen are progressing to court following non-payment, five have been withdrawn with the remaining 14 still being processed.
Recruitment is now underway to increase the size of this team by a further six enforcement officers. It is anticipated that the new staff will be in post by June this year.
An additional £1.5m was approved during this month’s budget council meeting to increase environmental enforcement. Documents said more than 30 long-term complex, multi service issues have been dealt with to date, ranging from problem premises to high profile city centre streets.
An example of the work undertaken include tackling some long term issues at a location situated in Kensington. Complaints included noise issues from businesses, waste and litter, fly-tipping, overgrown shrubbery, unroadworthy vehicles, parking infringements.
The response included environmental health officer visits to businesses, high visibility patrolling of the locality by environmental crime enforcement officers and Streetscene officers carrying out leaflet drop to local residents, street cleansing, paths cleared, and greenery pruned, the removal of untaxed and unroadworthy vehicles, parking enforcement and improved CCTV coverage.
