Content

(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.