Agenda item

The Head of Public Protection will be in attendance to give a verbal update on the new Enviro-crime contract.

The Head of Public Protection was in attendance to give a verbal update on the new Enviro-Crime Contract.

 

The Chairman welcomed the Group Manager for Public Protection and Assistant Director – Regulatory to present a verbal update on the new Enviro-Crime Contract.

 

The Assistant Director- Regulatory presented the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Annual Delivery Plan Objective.

 

Kingdom Local Authority Support had been awarded the Partnership contract for the Enviro-Crime Contract, based on 10 objectives, with two parts to the contract;

• Patrols and enforcement; and
• Surveillance camera capability at hot spots.

 

The Assistant Director-Regulatory updated the forum on what the benefits were for the short term and long term and how the enforcement of public behaviours would be implemented.

 

The contract was tendered out and was awarded to Kingdom who have already been successful at reducing Enviro-Crime in Boston, and authorities nationally.

The policy had been adopted by the South and East Lincolnshire partnership.

 

• SHDC have three officers based at Priory Road., The officers would be uniformed, and body video cameras worn, all officers would receive full training on skills, ethics, and customer care from accredited training courses.
• Kingdom pays a real living wage to their employees, without incentivisation schemes for enforcement.
• The company provide data protection and security, with regular contract meetings.
• Four national companies put in bids for the tender process, Kingdom were chosen for their all-round professionalism and the training of staff in customer care, with an already proven track record.
• The contract was awarded in February, and presence would be seen across the town centre and hotspots from this week now that the recruitment of staff had been a success.

 

The Group Manager for Public Protection added that staff received excellent training provided by Kingdom, and uniformed staff would be deployed to the town hot spots this week.

 

• Kingdom offers payment by instalment packages for those fined, who due to hardship may need longer to pay.
• Kingdom would provide educational packages to schools.
• Kingdom offered flexible working days and hours to their employees.

 

The Assistant Director - Regulatory informed the group that placing cameras in Enviro- Crime hotspots would be considered.

 

The Council would be renumerated with a percentage of the income generated from paid fines.

 

• The Enviro-Crime team would be headed by an experienced Enviro- Crime Officer and would be based in the offices at Priory Road.
• That local press would release details of the Enviro-Crime Contract alongside additional presence on social media.

 

Councillor Casson noted that fly tipping was a huge problem not only in the town centre but in neighbouring towns and villages.

 

The Officers invited questions from the group on the Enviro-Crime Contract.

 

 A question was asked whether the Enviro-Crime contractors would have authority to remove roadway/diversion signs that are discarded by Lincolnshire County Council Highways.

 

• The office responded that Lincolnshire County Council Highways would be alerted to any signs left discarded.

 

The Forum welcomed the presentation, as Enviro-Crime had continued to prove troublesome over the years, with various approaches tried and failed.

The Forum welcomed the education and engagement that Kingdom provided to turnaround public behaviours surrounding flytipping.

 

• It was noted that many residents left goods outside their properties for sale or free rather than take the items to the tip.

 

The Assistant Director-Regulatory, responded that Kingdom would be building on the work of the community wardens enabling them to be more effective and performance would be monitored with data information on how successful the Enviro-Crime Officers were.

 

A question was raised regarding items dumped and chemical spills on private land, would the Enviro Crime Officers be able to remove these.

 

• The Officer responded that flytipping on private land would be the responsibility of the landowners to remove the debris, but would encourage all landowners to report any issues

 

The Group Manager for Public Protection listed what the Enviro-Crime Officers can enforce including;

• dog fouling
• public space protection order offenses
• managing behaviours from offenders.

 

A group member enquired how flytipping on railway land and foot bridges would be managed.

·        The Public Protection Group Manager reiterated that residents were encouraged to report all fly tipping, and Kingdom would have more capacity to support private landowners.

 

The question was raised on the staffing levels, would three officers on the ground be sufficient and had the problematic issue of fly tipping been underestimated.

 

·        The Chairman responded, explaining that officers had scrutinized the current model deployed at Boston Council, and considered three officers on patrol would be an ideal starting point, these levels could be altered if deemed inadequate when the model was reviewed. Additional officers may be recruited if required.

 

The group enquired how the public report fly tipping.

 

·        The Public Protection Group Manager responded, informing the group of the press release surrounding the new Enviro-Crime Contract to encourage all public to report any Enviro-Crime using the SHDC website, the aforementioned being the quickest and optimum method of reporting Enviro-Crime.

 

The Chairman enquired what presence from the Enviro-Crime Officers would be visual to Spalding residents.

 

The Assistant Director-Regulatory responded that the Enviro-Crime Officers would patrol in pairs principally while initial training was completed. The patrolled area would be based on intelligence as to the known hotspots, and officers should be deployed to problematic areas. When calls were received by the Enviro-Crime team from members of the public, they must deploy to the area of concern.

·        It was noted that one of the Enviro-Crime Officers had excellent knowledge of the town centre and surrounding areas of the district, which would be an advantage to the team.

 

The Chairman asked what vehicles the Enviro-Crime Officers would be driving.

 

·        The team responded that they had their own vehicles that were well marked and visible, hence enabling residents to recognise where they were from, offering the public confidence that issues should be dealt with efficiently and effectively.

·        The Enviro-Crime officers should have a presence and would be approachable to help with any enquiries that the public may have.

 

The question was raised surrounding rough sleepers and would their personal belongings be removed.

 

• The Officer responded that these issues should be dealt with consideration and understanding.

 

The Officers further informed the forum that the Enviro-Crime team would be wearing body cameras for safeguarding. If offenders of Enviro-Crime forged complaints against the officers, the cameras could be viewed independently by SHDC to ascertain the nature of the complaint.

 

The Spalding Town Forum welcomed the new Enviro-Crime Contract and anticipated plenty of positive results.