Agenda item

To enable Cabinet to consider recommendations made by the Resources and Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee in relation to fly tipping and mobile CCTV enforcement.

RESOLVED that the recommendations made by the Resources and Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee be noted and that the responses of the Portfolio Holder for the Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships thereto be endorsed.

Cabinet was aware that the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee (“the Committee”) had, at its meeting held on 23 September 2024, considered a second final report from its Council’s Enforcement Arrangements Task and Finish Group, which had been submitted following that Group’s conclusion of its enquiry concerning fly tipping and mobile CCTV enforcement.

The Committee had RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to Cabinet that:-

“(1)    in order to develop a more holistic picture of the issues involved and the development of strategies to address them, in addition to highway fly-tipping incidents, records be kept and analysed for fly-tipping on other public land such as open spaces, public realm, Council assets, Beachfronts et cetera;

(2)     further steps be undertaken to engage with volunteer litter picking groups to ensure there is greater awareness of the issues around taking waste from private property and of the steps taken by Officers to identify perpetrators of fly-tipping (and the need to preserve that evidence to ensure it can be used in action against perpetrators);

(3)     it develop a similar approach to that of the London Borough of Redbridge with its online ‘Wall of Shame’ showing footage of fly-tipping with a view to encouraging understanding of the issue, the Council’s efforts to address fly-tipping and to receive information on perpetrators;

(4)     it encourage residents to supply their own footage, possibly through ‘RING’ (or other manufacturers) camera-door bells of fly-tipping captured by them;

(5)     it inform Councillors that if they notice dog fouling, un-retrieved dog waste, they should inform the Council’s Community Safety Team who can look at deployment of Ambassadors with a view to detecting the perpetrators and, in the issues persist, to evidence a decision to deploy mobile CCTV cameras to address the problem;

(6)     consideration be given to the deployment of a mobile ‘phone application for reporting incidents of fly-tipping and other crimes such as dog fouling and graffiti similar to that in place in Cheshire West and Chester Council;

(7)     consider how best to support members of the public to find details of licensed waste carriers (after the UK Government has concluded its review of the online access to that data);

(8)     details of fly-tipping hot spots on the highway/public land in the District be circulated to Councillors together with the stepped approach to enforcement relevant to that hot spot site and that this should be alongside summary details of the deployment of mobile CCTV cameras as part of addressing environmental crimes such as fly-tipping;

(9)     the reasons for the non-deployment of a mains powered or a battery powered CCTV camera in the High Street, Clacton-on-Sea with a view to deterring and/or detecting fly-tipping at the junction with Beach Road be set out and addressed with the relevant decision makers.

(10)   on the basis that the Council’s policies, procedures and codes in respect of CCTV are reviewed in this current calendar year, they be amended to provide that as and when CCTV cameras are to be purchased, or grant applications made to fund CCTV cameras, consideration be given to the relative benefit of those cameras having AI functionality that can be deployed and that for mobile CCTV cameras consideration should also be given to alternative acquisition options such as rental rather than purchase.”

Cabinet had before it the following response thereto from the Portfolio Holder for the Environment:-

“I note the recommendations of the Committee and thank them for work they have carried out.

I have been in discussion with the relevant service to explore the feasibility and resource implications of adopting the Committee’s recommendations.”

Cabinet had before it the following response thereto from the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships:-

“I also note the recommendations and thank the Committee.

I have raised the recommendations within the report with the relevant service.  I am happy to explore the option to use AI functionality, where appropriate.  I have asked the service to assess the impact of using AI on our existing policies and delivery of service.” 

Having duly considered the recommendations made by the Resources and Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee together with the responses of the Portfolio Holder for the Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships thereto:-

It was moved by Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Placey and:-

RESOLVED that the recommendations made by the Resources and Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee be noted and that the responses of the Portfolio Holder for the Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships thereto be endorsed.