Agenda item

This report provides an update on progress against the recommendations made by the Fly-Tipping Task Group.

Councillor Southwood (Cabinet member for Environment) presented a progress report on the recommendations of the Fly-Tipping Scrutiny Task Group which had been formed in 2015 in response to concerns regarding increased levels of illegal rubbish dumping (IRD) in the borough. The purpose of the task group was to analyse and consider the borough’s knowledge, behaviour and understanding of IRD, to review local policies and processes, and to put forward recommendations to bring about improvements to the service. The review was reported to Scrutiny Committee on 5 November 2015, and made twenty-six specific recommendations, principally concerned with reducing the levels of fly-tipping in Brent and ensuring clean and safe environments for Brent residents; and as a result, a reduction in clean-up and enforcement costs. The committee’s attention was drawn to Appendix 1 to the report which set out the progress achieved against each of the task group’s recommendations. Councillor Southwood noted that the pilot with Kingdom Security which aimed to provide dedicated teams of uniformed officers in the borough able to issue fines for littering, was going well. The need to increase work with landlords was recognised and the Service Review which was due to be undertaken over the coming weeks would seek to address the currently unsustainable Bulky Waste Service.

The committee acknowledged that an email received from a member of the public in attendance at the meeting set out concerns about incidences of illegal rubbish dumping in Harlesden and it was agreed that Councillor Southwood would provide a detailed response to be shared with the committee.

In the subsequent discussion the committee sought the views of Councillor Southwood regarding the role of community champions in the context of the “Love Where You Live” campaign and emphasised the importance of a good coverage of this activity across the borough.  It was queried whether the council was engaging with residents across a broad range of social media platforms. The value of a council-wide list of community and resident groups, previously discussed in relation to the task group recommendations for the CCTV service, was again highlighted. It was questioned what was being done to reach residents who had difficulties with written or spoken English and whether relevant community groups were being engaged. Members noted the importance of involving ward councillors in discussions with local community groups. The committee raised queries regarding enforcement activity and communicating this to residents. With reference to street inspections further information was sought about what constituted a ‘pass rate’ and how the borough compared with other London Boroughs.  

Councillor Southwood advised that she would liaise with the Communications team regarding the use of a broader range of social media platforms. Feedback on the role of community champions from residents identified that a group or community approach was preferred.  Further work was still required to develop the initiative but initial responses had been positive. This would be further explored in the planned Service Review, particularly with regard to ward member involvement and extending coverage across the borough. Robert Anderton (Head of Environmental Improvement) explained that the department sought to ensure that all of its literature was conveyed in pictorial terms as well as a number of different languages and was working with the contractor, Veolia, to identify where it would be appropriate to target literature at specific communities. Via monthly contract monitoring, Veolia provided information to the council about their communications and outreach activity. Chris Whyte (Operational Director Environmental Services) noted that the remit of this activity was limited to the services they provided but acknowledged that work could be undertaken to ensure that this activity formed part of a broader spectrum of education provided by the council. Councillor Southwood added that similar actions could be pursued with West London Waste to combine efforts.

Robert Anderton further explained that the council had a small but dedicated enforcement team and that robust action was carried out; however the scale of the challenge in Brent was significant. The level of resources for enforcement would be considered in the Service Review. There was a nationally set standard for the ‘pass rate’ for a street and details of this would be provided to the committee. Chris Whyte advised that nationally, the top five boroughs with the greatest levels of fly-tipping were located in London. Robert Anderton added that the London Environmental Directors Network had commissioned a pan-London group to look specifically at the issue if Illegal Rubbish Dumping, to share best practice and lobby the government for more support on this issue.