South Holland councillors call for a ‘comprehensive review’ of Kingdom enviro-crime service
Fed-up councillors are calling for a closer look at a ‘disappointing’ enviro-crime service after seeing an increase in fly-tipping.
Some members of South Holland District Council’s Performance Monitoring Panel do not feel that the contract with Kingdom is delivering the improvements they had hoped.
The council entered into a three-year contract with Kingdom LA Support in 2023, which would see the company crack down on enviro-crimes such as littering and fly-tipping using overt CCTV and foot patrols.
Latest data from the council shows that in the first quarter of the current financial year, Kingdom officers had handed out 154 fines for littering and just three fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping.
Councillors during the recent meeting spoke of their frustration that the contractor is going for ‘easy low hanging fruit’ such as littering rather than tackling the fly-tipping issue.
Panel vice-chairman Coun Michael Booth has been raising concerns about the contract for some time after seeing in rise in fly-tipping in Sutton Bridge.
He said: “I have asked where do these people work and the majority of the time they are in Spalding. We were sold a scheme that was going to solve the problems of the district but it seems to me that the problem of fly-tipping is getting worse.”
Data given to the committee as part of the council performance shows that 95% of fly-tips are collected within three days of collection within the first quarter of this financial year.
The report also shows the number of fines handed out for littering in the last financial year was 1,072. They gave 231 fines for the first quarter of 2023/24 financial year and 154 for the current financial year.
A total of 60 fines were given for fly-tipping for the whole of the last financial year. The highest number of fines, 38, were given in quarter 4 of the previous financial year.
It also shows that there have been a total of 84 prosecutions and that in the first quarter there were 69 outstanding payments required for fines.
Chairman of the panel, Coun Bryan Alcock, said: “One thing I have heard is concerns expressed about whether they are taking the low hanging fruit, the easy ones, and not really spending time on what we expected they were going to, - the ones that cause us the most aggrevation as they constantly fly-tipping.”
He later added: “People are disappointed with some part of the service. I personally think we need a far more comprehensive report with explanations of where the revenue is coming from.”
Coun Nanette Chapman said she had had good service from Kingdom in tackling a Holbeach issue along with receiving feedback.
When Kingdom was brought in, the publc were told that there would be an education campaign to remind the public of the rules around littering.
The council’s website states that there is ‘no formal right to appeal’ the fine but that the council will accept representations within 14 days of the fixed penalty notice being issued.
Have you received a fine from Kingdom? Have you had problems with the service? Post a comment below…