Agenda item

RESOLVED: That Cabinet;

1.    Agreed to the procurement, at no anticipated direct cost to the Council, of an environmental enforcement contract, that specifies the issuing of fixed penalty notices for littering and other environmental misdemeanours and includes an option for the provision of other enforcement services.

2.    That Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place & Economy, in consultation with the portfolio holder for Regulatory Services and the Head of Environmental Protection & Environmental Crime to select a suitable contractor and award the aforementioned contract for a period of up to five (5) years, with an initial contract of three (3) years, with an option to extend for a further period of up to two (2) years in annual increments (3+1+1), following the procurement process.

3.    That Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place & Economy, to allow the contractor to issue fixed penalty notices on behalf of West Northamptonshire Council, in accordance with our Enforcement Policy.

REASONS RESOLVED:

1.    The recommendations proposed will allow the Council to continue an effective enforcement service across the whole of West Northants.

2.    The recommended course of action is the most cost-effective for the Council to ensure that effective enforcement to complement the work undertaken by the current Neighbourhood Wardens.

3.    The Council (or customers) will receive benefit from the option proposed; enforcement and deterrent of environmental crime supports the Live Your Best Life Ambition of a cleaner and greener environment.

4.    Supporting the recommendations of the report ensure consistency with previous decisions to employ an external contractor to carry out face to face enforcement in urban areas but allows expansion and consistency across West Northants.

5.    Supporting the recommendations is in line with Council Enforcement Policy and the Littering and Fly Tipping Charters approved by Members and currently in place.

6.    The proposal has the potential to generate an amount of income for WNC through enforcement carried out by the third party.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

·         Cabinet may instead choose to keep environmental enforcement entirely inhouse. This is a tried and tested approach and has the benefit of being embedded within an integrated service. However, it is more costly and less effective in terms of low-level enforcement (and the numbers of FPN’s issued) and may be unsustainable in the future. The Neighbourhood Wardens currently carry out a community focussed role, and enforcement is just one part of their duties, meaning the impact of enforcement for the lower-level environmental crimes can be diluted. The number of offences able to be dealt with through enforcement would reduce significantly if the service remained in house only.

·         Cabinet could choose not to undertake enforcement action at all. This would achieve a negative revenue impact against the current service model but would also be likely to have a negative impact on matters such as cleanliness and safety in the towns and villages of West Northants. It would also forgo the benefits that could be achieved from the delivery model proposed in this report, supporting the whole of West Northants with a robust enforcement model.

·         Cabinet could decide to ask for other ways of delivering environmental enforcement activity to be identified, developed and brought forward for its consideration.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor David Smith presented the report, copies of which had been previously circulated. Members were advised that there had been extensive communication with the public.

Councillors made the following comments.

·         It was queried why the Council was outsourcing, could this not be dealt with in-house?

·         The current level of fines given out was low.

·         It was queried whether the parish and town councils had been engaged in discussions about this.

·         Could the schedule be shared with councillors?

Councillor Phil Larratt advised that the scheme was part of an old NBC one. It was recognised that the wardens did not have the time to deal with smaller infringements such as littering and were often busy with larger issues like as fly tipping. To bring the service in-house would be expensive.

Councillor David Smith confirmed that the new environmental team would complement the wardens that WNC already had and that it was important to work with parish and town councils on this.  

RESOLVED: That Cabinet;

1.    Agreed to the procurement, at no anticipated direct cost to the Council, of an environmental enforcement contract, that specifies the issuing of fixed penalty notices for littering and other environmental misdemeanours and includes an option for the provision of other enforcement services.

2.    That Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place & Economy, in consultation with the portfolio holder for Regulatory Services and the Head of Environmental Protection & Environmental Crime to select a suitable contractor and award the aforementioned contract for a period of up to five (5) years, with an initial contract of three (3) years, with an option to extend for a further period of up to two (2) years in annual increments (3+1+1), following the procurement process.

3.    That Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director of Place & Economy, to allow the contractor to issue fixed penalty notices on behalf of West Northamptonshire Council, in accordance with our Enforcement Policy.