More on-the-spot fines for waste crimes in Dacorum, report says

Increasing numbers of on-the-spot fines for waste crimes – including fly-tipping – are being issued across Dacorum, councillors have been told.

But the number of times fly tipped waste has had to be removed from the borough has gone down.

Last year (2019/20), it has emerged,48 ‘fixed penalty notices’ were issued by enforcement officers from Dacorum Council for waste crimes.

And that’s 85 per cent more than the 26 fixed penalty notices issued for waste crimes by the council in the previous year.

Yet over the same time period council data shows the number of fly-tips that had to be removed in the borough decreased by eight per cent – from 1381 in 2018/19 to 1269 in 2019/20.

The reducing incidents of fly-tipping – and the increase in enforcement – were included in a report for Dacorum Council’s Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

According to the report, 31 of the fixed penalty notices – or on-the-spot fines – were for fly-tipping. And 14 were for ‘duty of care’ offences, where residents have failed to ensure their waste was taken away by an authorised carrier.

In 2019/20 the fine for fly-tipping was £380 – and for a duty of care offence was £300.

According to the report, the council’s enforcement team also prosecuted five offenders for waste crime offences over the past year, which led to £2220 in fines and 120 hours of community service.

It was reported to councillors that the council’s enforcement team also obtained authorisation – under RIPA legislation – for covert surveillance and had made “significant investment” in surveillance equipment.

And the report highlighted the case of one man who was prosecuted, after being identified as the registered keeper of a vehicle caught leaving waste behind at a lay-by, in Flamstead by video evidence.

According to the report, in 2020/21 the fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping will increase to £400, which is the maximum allowed.

The fixed penalty notice for householder duty of care offences, it says, will increase to £306 and commercial waste offences to £110.