Agenda item

Officers from Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) outlined enforcement activity since June 2024, covering fly tipping, littering, dog fouling and untidy land, with an increase in staffing to 1.5 full time equivalent (FTE) to support Bromsgrove District Council (BDC) when WRS took over the service delivery.

The key points included:

• Since June 2024, WRS had undertaken environmental enforcement on behalf of the Council.
• Fly tipping volumes in Bromsgrove were high compared to other districts.
• Successful enforcement relied heavily on gathering admissible evidence.
• Intelligence led approaches were used to identify hotspots and repeat offenders.
• A proposal was put forward to adopt the WRS Environmental Crime Enforcement Policy.
• Approval was sought to allow Civil Enforcement Officers to issue littering penalties from vehicles.

After discussions, Members raised the following questions:

Environmental Crime Update

• Dog fouling offences reported for investigation were discussed. Members requested clarity on the reported offences for dog fouling within the District. – The standard procedures were explained to Members which included firstly establishing if the complaint was an offence, followed by an initial warning to the perpetrator, and then escalation through a Community Protection Warning (CPW), Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), followed by possible court proceedings.  
• Clarification was sought for the extra resource increase of .5 FTE to cover the BDC area and if this would be sufficient to cover the role? – Members were informed that the extra resource had been operating since June 2024, which was predominantly being used to assist with review of camera footage, associated intelligence checks and to also administer enforcement files.  Members noted that the team were working as hard as they could with the resource available.

Littering from vehicles

• If there were other local authorities carrying out similar civil enforcement action to compare work productivity? – Members noted Wychavon District Council were carrying out similar enforcement action and it was agreed that Officers would seek their expertise in this field of work.
• If Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) could be used if the offence had not been witnessed by a Civil Enforcement Officer? – Members noted that evidence from CCTV and evidence from members of the public could be used if the claims were supported by witness statements.  Members were also advised that the Team were using vehicle registration numbers as another approach to gain evidence.

• What was defined as a hotspot, could cameras be used in these particular areas and what were the costs? – It was advised that hotspots were identified by volume, severity and patterns of offending and camera deployment was limited by theft and technical constraints.  Therefore, cameras were deployed selectively due to cost, theft risk and technical limitations.
• If an update could be provided on the number of fly tips reported since January 2026 as reported? – Members noted numbers were high due to the impact of littering issues in neighbouring District, particularly within the Birmingham City area, however, Officers were liaising with Birmingham City Council to tackle these issues.  Members also noted that trying to track down individuals was becoming increasingly difficult, as offenders were learning new ways to avoid detection.

• Members discussed and queried the links between organised crime and fly tipping. – Members were advised that fly tipping was increasingly linked to organised criminal activity and required an intelligence led approach to identify offenders, which was a lengthy process.  Members noted the need to raise public awareness of these organised crimes and their impact.  It was also highlighted that the individual who owned the waste was ultimately responsible for its disposal. Residents were advised to verify waste carriers via the Environment Agency register or the Council website.
• If recycling centre access restrictions were contributing to fly tipping? - It was advised that there was no clear evidence which currently linked fly tipping directly to recycling centre restrictions.

RESOLVED that the Envirocrime Update be noted.