Littering and Fly-tipping
Dear North Devon Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
Could you please answer the following questions with regards to Littering and Fly-tipping in your area - thank you!
Littering:
Please could you provide the requested data per year for the last 5 years (2015- 2020)
1. What is the fine cost of a littering Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)?
2. How many FPNs did you issue for littering?
3. How many FPNs for littering were paid for each year over the last 5 years?
4. How many council complaints have you had for littering?
5. How many employees do you have that litter pick and how has this number changed over the last 5 years?
6. How many journalist inquiries regarding litter picking have you received over the last 5 years?
7. How many staff members were furloughed during 2020 and 2021?
Fly-tipping:
Please could you provide the requested data per year for the last 5 years (2015- 2020)
1. What is the fine cost for a Fly-tipping FPN?
2. How many fly-tipping FPN have you issued for each year over the last 5 years?
3. How much money was collected from FPNs for Fly-tipping each year for the last 5 years?
4. How many reports/complaints on fly-tipping did you receive for the above time frame?
5. What is the cost to the council to rectify fly-tipping offences?
Thank you so much,
Ellen Blacow
Dear Ms Blacow
Thank you for your request received this morning, for which I acknowledge receipt.
In response to 1, 2 and 3 for littering and fly-tipping, this information is published within the Council Environmental Fixed Penalty notice datasets: https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/... which provide the data from 1 January 2010 - 31 December 2020 and is updated on a yearly basis. In accordance with Section 22 of the Act, the 2021 data will be published in early 2022, once it has been gathered.
In response to 7, the number of Council employees furlough across the authority by month from March 2020 as follows:
March 2020 = 0
April 2020 = 40
May 2020 = 42
June 2020 = 42
July 2020 = 23
August 2020 = 5
September 2020 = 0
October 2020 = 0
November 2020 = 0
December 2020 = 0
January 2021 = 0
February 2021 = 0
March 2021 = 0
The remainder of your request is now being dealt with in accordance with the Act and will be due for response no later than 17 May, in accordance with the statutory time limit of 20 working days.
I will write to you in advance should the processing of your request require any further any information/clarification from you.
Yours sincerely
Vicky Eagle
Administrator – FOI and EIR
Legal Services
North Devon Council
PO Box 379, Barnstaple, EX32 2GR
[North Devon Council request email]
Dear Ms Blacow
I write in response to the remainder of your request, received 16 April 2021.
Section 1(1)(a) of the Act requires the Council to inform you whether it holds information of the description specified in your request. I confirm that the Council does hold some of this information. In discharge of its obligation under section 1(1)(b) I can provide you with the following response:
Littering
4. Since 1 April 2017 (the data is no longer prior to this due to a change in software), the Council has received a total of 175 reports of overflowing litter bins.
5. 12 employees, this has not changed in five years.
6. The Council's Communications team received nine media enquiries which were specifically related to litter picking during the requested period.
Fly-tipping
4. and 5. Please refer to the following dataset which publishes this information from 2011 to 2020: https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/...
The dataset provides the number of reported incidents to the Council and associated estimated costs for their removal.
In accordance with Section 21(1) of the Act, the Council is not obliged to provide information that is already in the public domain. However, it does have a duty under Section 16(1) to provide all applicants advice and assistance in order to assist with locating the information, which I have done so in providing you with the link to the dataset link above.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to request an internal review which should be received within two months from the date of this response email and should be sent to;
Solicitor & Data Protection Officer
Legal Services
North Devon Council
PO Box 379, Barnstaple, EX32 2GR
[North Devon Council request email]
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: [email address]
Yours sincerely
Vicky Eagle
Administrator, FOI & EIR
Legal Services
North Devon Council
PO Box 379, Barnstaple, EX32 2GR
[North Devon Council request email]
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