Permission to distribute leaflets (England and Wales)

The request was partially successful.

Dear Shepway District Council,

I refer to the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 and in particular 'Permission to distribute leaflets (England and Wales'

1) Since the publication and enforcement of this legislation, how many applications, by year, has Shepway District Council received and have given permission to the applicant?

2) Please, without referral to the Shepway District Council website, tell me how much you have been charging for this licence and the revenue it has generated. Again by year please.

3) Since legislation how many checks or enforcement notices have been made firstly by the Shepway 'inhouse' Civil Enforcement Officer' team and secondly during the period when this was outsourced to a company called Xfor whose contract was terminated in 2013?

4) During the period (what was that period of time please?)when NSL took over the outsourcing of the CEO's and consequently the end of the inhouse enforcement of litter/dog fouling/ road fund licence checks, and the employment of Xfor, who was responsible for this enforcement and how many enforcement notices were issued?

5) Finally what steps, conversations and correspondence is available for the last eighteen months on how Shepway District Council are attempting to enforce litter legislation in the District?

Yours faithfully,

Brian McBride

Folkestone & Hythe District Council

Dear Brian McBride,

Thank you for your request dated 9 April 2014.

We will endeavour to supply the information you have requested within the requisite 20 working days. If we think that it will take longer, we will contact you.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Neville
Information and Legal Officer
Tel: 01303 853437
Fax: 01303 853548
Shepway District Council, Civic Centre, Castle Hill Avenue,
Folkestone, Kent, CT20 2QY
E-mail: [Shepway District Council request email]
Website: www.shepway.gov.uk
 
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Folkestone & Hythe District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Brian McBride,

I am writing in respect of your Freedom of Information enquiry dated 9 April 2014. This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find below information in response to your request.

1) Since the publication and enforcement of this legislation, how many applications, by year, has Shepway District Council received and have given permission to the applicant?
The council does not record this information.

2) Please, without referral to the Shepway District Council website, tell me how much you have been charging for this licence and the revenue it has generated. Again by year please.
There is no fee set for this and no revenue has been generated.

3) Since legislation how many checks or enforcement notices have been made firstly by the Shepway 'inhouse' Civil Enforcement Officer' team and secondly during the period when this was outsourced to a company called Xfor whose contract was terminated in 2013?
I am writing to ask you to clarify your request as we need further details from you in order to ensure that we have understood your request correctly and to identify and locate the correct information. Please could you clarify what the “checks or enforcement notices” are in relation to. For example did you require information in relation to Fixed Penalty Notices for litter or something else? Please note that we do not keep information on checks on leaflet distributors.

4) During the period (what was that period of time please?) when NSL took over the outsourcing of the CEO's and consequently the end of the inhouse enforcement of litter/dog fouling/ road fund licence checks, and the employment of Xfor, who was responsible for this enforcement and how many enforcement notices were issued?
I am writing to ask you to clarify your request as we need further details from you in order to ensure that we have understood your request correctly and to identify and locate the correct information. Please could you clarify what type of “enforcement” you wish to receive information concerning.

Please note that NSL undertook parking enforcement duties only. They did not take over litter and dog fouling enforcement duties at any time and the council is not the responsible authority for checking road fund licenses.

NSL are responsible for parking enforcement services across the district. NSL have been employed since the 3 January 2012. It was a management agreement between January- March 2012 and the actual contract commenced on 1 April 2012.

5) Finally what steps, conversations and correspondence is available for the last eighteen months on how Shepway District Council are attempting to enforce litter legislation in the District?
The Environmental Enforcement contract with Xfor commenced in July 2012 and was terminated in February 2013 after the company entered administration. Since then dog fouling enforcement has continued in house with the Dog Warden and around 75 multi agency officers are trained and authorised to issue fixed penalty notices for littering and dog fouling, though there has been no dedicated littering enforcement team. The existing Environmental Protection Team assist with targeted Dog Warden patrols but were unable to dedicate time to litter patrols until efficiencies were identified by the council’s Ways of Working project. On 18 December 2013 a report was agreed at committee to set up an in house team using the existing Environmental Protection Team providing an additional 15 patrol hours per week, including early starts, late finishes and weekends. The council does not have a statutory duty to provide litter patrols. A copy of the committee report (Cabinet 18 December 2013 Item 69 Environmental Enforcement – Report C/13/59) is attached.

I look forward to receiving your clarification on questions 3 and 4.

Should you require any further information, or if you are not satisfied with our response, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01303 853437. You may also request an internal review by writing to the following address:

Freedom of Information Appeals Officer
Administration
Shepway District Council
Castle Hill Avenue
Folkestone
Kent CT20 2QY

Alternatively you can use our Customer Comment Form which can be accessed at our website www.shepway.gov.uk

In addition, if you are not satisfied with our response you may apply to the Information Commissioner for an independent review at the following address:

The information Commissioner
Wyncliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone 01625 545700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Neville
Information and Legal Officer
Tel: 01303 853437
Fax: 01303 853548
Shepway District Council, Civic Centre, Castle Hill Avenue,
Folkestone, Kent, CT20 2QY
E-mail: [Shepway District Council request email]
Website: www.shepway.gov.uk
 
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