Decision details

(Report of Director of Street Scene, Leisure and Technical Services)

The report detailed the legal ‘duty of care’ of householders to ensure that they only gave their waste to a licensed waste carrier.  Members were also asked to consider the level of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for this offence and whether this should be altered from the current legal default level.

Details of the current FPN levels for other relevant offences adopted by the Borough Council was included at 1.2.3 of the report.  A table showing the level of FPN for Household Duty of Care set by a number of other Kent authorities was included at 1.2.4 of the report for context.

Members were advised of the recent Government announcement in respect of the maximum amount that could be applied to FPNs for household waste Duty of Care offences which had been increased to £600 as of 31 July 2023.

Attention was drawn to the works undertaken by the Borough Council in raising householders’ awareness of their Duty of Care responsibilities and potential consequences of failing to take appropriate action when having their waste taken away, with particular reference made to a Duty of Care checklist to be made available for reference of members of the public.

Following consideration by the Communities and Environment Scrutiny Select Committee, the Cabinet Member for Transformation and Infrastructure resolved that:

(1)        with effect from 31 July 2023, the Household Duty of Care FPN level be set at the maximum amount of £600 as set by legislation;

(2)        an early payment discounted level for Household Duty of Care FPNs be agreed in principle, and authority delegated to the Cabinet Member for Transformation and Infrastructure, in liaison with the Director of Street Scene, Leisure and Technical Services, to set amounts once details of the new minimum and default levels had been confirmed by Government; and

(3)        following the increases in maximum levels recently released by Government, options for the setting of revised FPN levels for fly tipping and littering offences be provided at a future meeting of the Scrutiny Select Committee.