Cost questions over BCP Council plan for private flytipping enforcement

TAXPAYERS will still have to foot the bill for clearing up rubbish under BCP Council’s proposed new outsourced flytipping enforcement service.

Cabinet members will be asked to approve a one-year “cost-neutral” pilot when they meet next week in a bid to crackdown on repeat offenders, writes Josh Wright of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But the council’s scrutiny board has called on the cabinet to “reconsider” the approach, which would see the council have to pay to clear up waste without collecting any income from fines.

The new service has been drawn up following concerns the council has “no real deterrent” to serial flytippers and lacked the expertise to deal with the issue.

If approved by the cabinet next week, it will see a company take over responsibility for the council’s work, except for clearing up flytipped rubbish.

“Often we have good evidence but we can’t take it any further than a warning or advice and that doesn’t have any impact,” Matthew King, council community enforcement manager, said at the latest scrutiny board meeting.

The company selected for the pilot – which has not been named – has said it will cover the cost of its work through income from fines, which is forecast to be about £130,000 a year.

But Cllr Lewis Allison said: “We’ve got the ability to give out [fines] and generate an income. Yet the council is still having to pay for the clearing of the waste.

“Why can we not bring this service internally and have it so that the profit generated [from the fines] is used to cover the cost of clearing up the waste?”

Cabinet member for community safety, Cllr May Haines, said outsourcing the service would lead to more prosecutions because the council did not have the resources or expertise to deal properly with the issue.

“The cost of removal will still remain with the council,” she said. “But what the pilot will do will be to enable the resource to be made available to carry out investigations with the hope it reduces the level of flytipping.”

Despite this, councillors criticised the arrangement, saying other options had not been properly considered, although much of the discussion was held in private due to confidentiality.

Former council leader Cllr Vikki Slade put forward a recommendation calling on the cabinet to “reconsider” the scheme – a move supported by most of the board.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Slade said concerns centred around a “lack of due diligence” of the proposal.

“The scope of the information we were given was very narrow,” she said. “It was not the best route to take based on the information that was provided.”

The board’s recommendation will be put forward at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting when it considers the proposed pilot.