Ealing Council Issues Third Highest Number of Litter Fines in UK
More than a million pounds raised in a year
Leader of Ealing Council Peter Mason and Cllr Deirdre Costigan with borough enforcement officers
November 8, 2023
Research has shown that Ealing Council issues the third highest number of fines for littering out of all the local authority areas in the country.
During the most recent financial year, 8,476 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) were handed out which, if all were paid, would have brought in a total of £1,271,400. The council says it has a 99% success rate in prosecuting people in magistrates’ courts for unpaid fines.
The number of FPNs which are issued by the council’s contractor, Kingdom, is up by 17% on the previous year putting the borough behind only Lambeth and the City of Manchester according to new research by litter campaigners Clean Up Britain.
The civil enforcement officers are supposed to use body worn cameras and inform people they are issuing FPNs to why they are receiving them. The ten ask for person’s ID and issue an FPN of £150 which, unlike parking fines, is not reduced for prompt payment. Failing to comply with the officer or giving false information is a further offence under the Environmental Protection Act according to the council.
It has been suggested by some residents that civil enforcement officers choose soft targets such as families and older people and ignoring more serious littering from people who might resist handing over their details. Last year a woman says she was given an FPN in Ealing for accidentally dropping a very small piece of paper. The Local Government Ombudsman has also received a number of complaints about FPNs issued by Kingdom.
In response to these complaints, Ealing Council has said that it is committed to ensuring that FPNs are issued fairly and consistently.
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, Ealing Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action, said, “Residents in Ealing are proud of where they live and keeping our streets clean is a priority for us. We won’t let a small minority spoil things for the rest of us, so we’re pleased to be officially recognised as one of the toughest boroughs in the country when it comes to cracking down on people who drop litter.
“Fining people who drop litter goes hand in hand with our work to educate residents and visitors on the impact of these offences.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |