Agenda item

The Committee considered the report of the Corporate Management Team which presented progress against the Councils corporate basket of performance indicators for the Altogether Greener theme and report other significant performance issues for the second quarter of the 2016/17 financial year, covering the period July to September 2016 (for copy of report, see file of minutes)

The Customer Relations Policy and Performance Manager gave a presentation which gave an update of the performance indicators relating to:

·       Performance summary

·       Achievements

·       Refuse and Recycling

·       Improved Environmental Cleanliness

·       Consultation on the Implementation of a countywide Public Space Protection Order for dog control

·       Fly-tipping

·       Condition of the Local Authority road network

·       Reduction in carbon emissions

·       Renewable Energy Generation

·       Environmental Awards

The Customer Relations Policy and Performance Manager updated the committee with the results of the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) consultation as requested at an earlier meeting and advised that 577 responses had been received. Of these responses: 84% agreed with the proposal to make it an offence to allow a dog to stray; 82% agreed with the proposal to exclude dogs from fenced off play areas owned by Durham County Council; 85% agreed with the proposal to make it an offence for failing to put a lead on a dog when directed to do so by an authorised officer and 50% of respondents stated they would not be affected by the Public Space Protection Order.

The Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services was in attendance to update Members on Fly-tipping. He advised that ‘Operation Stop It’ was carrying on and the service was determined to reduce and tackle the problem but it was going to take time. In order to answer members’ questions as to whether fly tipping had increased we should go further back to 2014 and from this date it is clear that fly tipping had decreased by 19%. A lot of progress had been made in investigating fly tipping and the service were determined to find the underlying causes but this was still a work in progress. There were three areas which were impacting on increase of fly tipping – black bags of general waste, construction waste and over reporting of incidents.

There had been an increase in black bag fly tipping incidents in Peterlee and Bishop Auckland areas, which had been investigated to see if this was linked to waste collection but the findings had shown that there was no link. The Head of Direct Services advised that Section 46 notices could be issued if necessary but the authority was vigilant and had used intelligence to good effect. Households were reminded only to use the waste bin provided and not to leave the bin out all week.

Construction waste fly tipping had increased and the service were working with the Environment Agency and were currently considering offering more outlets to handle this type of waste with the possibility of some household waste and recycling centres to accept trade waste. This would create income for the Council and would help traders to get rid of construction waste.

The new CRM had enabled clearer reporting of incidents of fly-tipping and collection requests could now be taken online but there was also issues of false reporting. The Clean and Green Teams were working together to go through evidence where there had been fly tipping incidents to find a name or address. They had also moved to mobile technology which enabled incidents to be reported in but they needed to ensure that incidents were not been reported twice.

Councillor Armstrong referred to prosecutions and sought clarification if the Council recovered all their costs.

The Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services responded that when the Council put an application in for costs it had to be reasonable and was generally awarded. The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had given local authorities the power to seize vehicles suspected of illegally dumping waste and this was a new opportunity which would act as a deterrent to perpetrators.

Councillor Liversidge referred to the opening times of the household waste centres and asked whether this had an impact on fly-tipping.

The Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services responded that they had carried out analysis which compared fly-tipping before and after the reduced closure times and closure of some household waste and recycling centre sites to see if there was a cause and effect and there was no association.

Councillor Taylor referred to fly-tipping in closed cemeteries specifically how dead flowers are just left in cemeteries.

The Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services responded that flowers were a delicate issue but if there were a significant number of incidents then they could look to install CCTV cameras to identify culprits.

Councillor Clare referred to his area which had suffered from a significant amount of fly-tipping and that when tenants had requested collections the registered provider had given a 40 day timeframe therefore the rubbish can be there for 8 weeks. This may look like fly tipping to others and added to it. He asked if the council distinguished between fly-tipping incidents and tenants putting additional items out to be taken away such as black bin bags that had not been removed during the waste collection.

In response, Members were advised that the council no longer had the contract for refuse collection in this area and as such were unable to remove items and the land where the items were left was not in local authority ownership. The service did report any incidents of fly tipping it finds to the social housing provider as a concern. In relation to the distinction of items the Head of Direct Services advised that they did receive a breakdown of the figures of the type of rubbish and they could identify if it was fly-tipping or linked to refuse collection. They would issue a fixed penalty notice for small amounts of rubbish rather than prosecution.

Councillor Holland referred to the man with a van and was fly-tipping the cheaper option. Were the costs too high to dispose of commercial waste properly or did they not care. He asked if the penalties could be so high that it would be a deterrent and if caught would not do it again. He also asked what the fees would be to dispose of commercial waste at the household waste centres.

Members were advised that the household waste centres were not intended for commercial waste although some modern household waste and recycling centres could accommodate trade waste but a permit is required, the service was exploring ways to make it easier to obtain permits but needed to address costs to reflect the cost of disposal. The Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services referred to a recent case of fly-tipping that was within 2 miles of a household waste centre which was open at the time.

The Chairman thanked the Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services and Councillor Stephens for their attendance and asked if a further update on fly tipping could come to a future meeting.

The Chairman also thanked the Customer Relations Policy and Performance Manager for her presentation and asked that she may convey her thanks to the team for ‘operation spruce up’ which had concluded in Spennymoor and the results were starting to show.

The Head of Direct Services, Regeneration and Local Services advised that the programme had just started in Framwellgate Moor and that they would be doing an evaluation and would produce a report, which scrutiny members could receive at a future meeting.

Councillor Clare referred to the ‘warm up north’ fund, which had now closed and asked for a brief update.

The Low Carbon Economy Team Leader advised that the fund had now come to an end and the team were looking at what to do next.

The Customer Relations Policy and Performance Manager indicated that she would get Mr C Duff, Housing Regeneration Project Manager to do a response on the ‘warm up north’ fund and circulate to members of the Committee.

Resolved: That the report be noted and that a further update on fly tipping come to a future meeting.