Littering and enforcement

The request was partially successful.

Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, Wigan Council, Wigan Borough Council.

Please provide me with the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1. How many on the spot fines and/or warnings were issued for littering or littering related activities for the last 12 months from the date of this request?

2. How many of these fines or warning where for cigarettes only?

3. How many court cases have been successfully prosecuted by the Council for the dropping of cigarettes?

4. How many court cases have been successfully prosecuted by the Council for any type of littering apart from the dropping of cigarettes?

5. How much revenue was generated by these prosecutions and on the spot fines for cigarettes only?

6. How much revenue was generated by these prosecutions and on the spot fines for any type of littering apart from cigarettes?

7. How many cases are there of people being fined who claim state benefits? (if known).

8. How many Environmental Enforcement Officers are currently employed by the Local Authority?

9. How many of these officers have been involved in fines that relate to the Town Centre of Wigan?

10. What areas in the Borough are not covered by the activity of these Environmental Enforcement Officers? Please list these by village, such as Hindley, Spring View etc.

11. How many successful fines have been issued for littering in the following areas within the Borough?
A. Aspull
B. New Springs
C. Platt Bridge
D. Spring View
E. Ince (lower and higher combined)
F. Ashton in Makerfield

12. How many of the fines issued relate to pedestrians and how many relate to motorists?

I ask these questions as I am trying to ascertain if certain groups or locations are being disproportionally targeted or if the Local Authority is distributing its resources to tackle littering throughout the Borough. Fly tipping has been highlighted on several occasions in the local media and as such, it would be in the public interest to see how these resources are used and how effective they are at tacking all types of littering offences.

Regards

Andrew Ratchford

Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council,

Just in case. All questions listed above relate to the 12 month period asked for in question 1.

Yours faithfully,

A Ratchford

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

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Dear Sir,
 
 
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Council.
 
 
We will respond as soon as possible and in any case no later than 31st
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Complaints and Information Team
 
Resources Directorate
Wigan Council
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Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council,

If there's a problem supplying this data in the format I asked for, you can supply the data en masse and I will reorganise it for you.

Yours faithfully,

A Ratchford

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

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Dear Sir

I am writing to respond to your freedom of information request recently
received. This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

The response to your request is detailed below.

All information below relates to 1 July 2014 - 31 July 2015 (please note
all fixed penalties issued have a maximum of 28 days to be paid and a six
month limitation for any prosecution)

 All questions relate to the 12 month period asked for in Question 1

1. How many on the spot fines and/or warnings were issued for littering or
littering related activities for the last 12 months from the date of this
request?

25 juvenile warnings and 2814 fixed penalties for littering

2. How many of these fines or warning where for cigarettes only?

We only record for the offence as littering: throw down, drop or otherwise
deposited, then leave the litter

3. How many court cases have been successfully prosecuted by the Council
for the dropping of cigarettes?

We cannot provide this information as we only record the offence as
littering

4. How many court cases have been successfully prosecuted by the Council
for any type of littering apart from the dropping of cigarettes?

For all littering offences: 204 have been prosecuted and 326 are pending
prosecution

5. How much revenue was generated by these prosecutions and on the spot
fines for cigarettes only?

We cannot provide this information as we only record the offence as
littering

6. How much revenue was generated by these prosecutions and on the spot
fines for any type of littering apart from cigarettes?

Once prosecuted all fines and costs are dealt with by the court. Revenue
from littering fixed penalties is £19,052

7. How many cases are there of people being fined who claim state
benefits? (if known).

Not known

8. How many Environmental Enforcement Officers are currently employed by
the Local Authority?

3GS provide the contract for enforcement of littering and dog fouling and
there are two officers employed by this company.

All Environmental Officers have the power to issue fines and to undertake
prosecutions for various environmental offences and not just littering, so
for example duty of care, waste receptacles, fly tipping etc.  There are
12 officers employed by Wigan Council

9. How many of these officers have been involved in fines that relate to
the Town Centre of Wigan?

2

10. What areas in the Borough are not covered by the activity of these
Environmental Enforcement Officers? Please list these by village, such as
Hindley, Spring View etc.

All the borough is covered

11. How many successful fines have been issued for littering in the
following areas within the Borough?

A. Aspull and B. New Springs

0

C. Platt Bridge and D. Spring View

0

E. Ince (Lower and Higher combined)

3

F. Ashton in Makerfield

88

12. How many of the fines issued relate to pedestrians and how many relate
to motorists?

 All pedestrians

If you are unhappy with any aspect of this response, an independent senior
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You can also complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the
regulator for Freedom of Information. His website is
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His staff may ask you to exhaust our internal complaints procedure if you
choose to complain to his office now.

 

Kind Regards

 

Complaints and Information Team

Resources Directorate
Wigan Council, PO Box 100
Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 3DS

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Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council,

Thank you for your response.

With regards to point 8, could you clarify how many fines were issued by the employees of 3GS. If this is not known, how many of the 2000+ fines were issued by the 12 council employees?

And finally, with regard to point 9, how many fines were issued by these 2 officers for the town centre of Wigan, if known?

My apologies for not asking these questions initially in this FOI but I wasn't aware that a contractor was involved.

Yours faithfully,

A Ratchford

Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council,

I have approached the Courts earlier over this data that you cannot distinguish and they will assist with information regarding prosecutions. Could you please make available for my viewing the data on the 2814 notices you have issued. You can, if you wish, block the personal data of individuals as this is not required.

I am willing to attend your offices to view this data or you can send it via any means. Should this exceed the statutory hours or amount for an FoI, I am willing to inspect the data myself or have you provide as much as possible.

Yours faithfully,

A Ratchford

Mail Delivery Subsystem, Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

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Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

 
Dear Sir,
 
Please find further response from the department in respect of your
queries relating to points 8 and 9.
 
With regards to point 8, could you clarify how many fines were issued by
the employees of 3GS. If this is not known, how many of the 2000+ fines
were issued by the 12 council employees?
 
2803 have been issued by 3GS 11 by other officers
 
And finally, with regard to point 9, how many fines were issued by these 2
officers for the town centre of Wigan, if known?
 
1707
 
 
 
Regards
 
Complaints and Information Team
 
Resources Directorate
Wigan Council
P.O. Box 100, Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 3DS
 
 
 
[1]www.wigan.gov.uk
[2]www.twitter.com/wigancouncil
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As a public body the Council may be required to disclose this email or any
responses to it under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 unless the
information in it is covered by one of the exemptions to the exemptions in
the Act
 
 
>>Corporate Disclaimer<<
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom
they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please
notify the system manager.

Email may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded
for legal purposes.

As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose this
email or any response to it under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 unless the information in it is covered by one of the
exemptions in the Act.

This footnote also confirms that this email has been swept for
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Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council,

I have obtained the data although I have only from Jan 2015 to Jun 2015. Here is a complete breakdown the data you claim not to hold.

3. How many court cases have been successfully prosecuted by the
Council for the dropping of cigarettes?

283

4. How many court cases have been successfully prosecuted by the
Council for any type of littering apart from the dropping of
cigarettes?

14

5. How much revenue was generated by these prosecutions and on the
spot fines for cigarettes only?

£37,246.00

6. How much revenue was generated by these prosecutions and on the
spot fines for any type of littering apart from cigarettes?

£2,970.00

There are a total of 3,212 Streets. You have patrolled 66 in the last six months.

Out of a total of 297 Fines, only 10 have not been in or around a Town centre.

I consider this FoI closed and partially successful.

Yours faithfully,

A Ratchford