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Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fined for feeding the ducks and picking up litter. How ‘Stasi-like' councils are ripping off Britain
While serious criminal behaviour all too often goes unpunished, councils across the country are increasingly issuing fines for misdemeanours as innocuous as putting the bins out early or feeding the ducks. After one west London man was penalised with a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for putting his bins out early last month – more on which below – the shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, warned that local authorities were veering into 'Stasi-like control of people's lives'. 'Instead of cracking down on genuine antisocial behaviour, the state tries to reassert itself by punishing well-meaning people for tiny infringements,' he told The Telegraph. 'It's the easy thing to do but it's counter-productive and unfair.' Indeed, on-the-spot penalties – condemned by critics as 'busybody fines' – have been rising for years. Data show such fines soared by 42 per cent in the year to 2023, resulting in nearly 20,000 FPNs being dished out, according to research conducted by civil liberties group the Manifesto Club. Although nominally aimed at cracking down on offences such as loitering and littering (offering local authorities a way to deal with relatively minor transgressions outside of court), the seemingly heavy-handed use of these penalties in a justice system where people convicted of grave crimes are often handed short or suspended sentences seems ever more unjustifiable. Here are some of the most egregious examples… Martin Fielder had given up his job to care for his young children after the death of his wife when he was hit with a £500 fine and the threat of a criminal record in February this year. His misdemeanour? An errant envelope that he suspects flew out of his recycling bin. After the envelope had been found by a council warden 250ft from his house, Fielder was accused of fly-tipping in a letter sent by District Enforcement, a private contractor of Welwyn Hatfield borough council that issues FPNs on commission. The ensuing back-and-forth with the council, he said, has left him in a state of 'constant anxiety'. 'The letter stated that if the fine was not paid within 28 days, the matter would be referred to the magistrates' court, where I could go to prison for up to 12 months or receive a bigger fine, or both,' Fielder told The Guardian newspaper. Fielder explained that strong winds the night before could have caused the packaging to fly out of his recycling bin, and the company downgraded the charge to a £100 littering fine. He is now deciding whether to challenge the penalty in court. As in Fielder's case, the administration of FPNs is often outsourced from cash-strapped councils to third-party contractors, prompting critics to suggest the system is used to replenish local authorities' coffers and wide open to exploitation. Indeed, the Manifesto Club's research indicated that the 39 local authorities which employed private enforcement companies were behind 14,633 of the penalties served in 2023, while 261 councils that did not issued just 4,529 by comparison. 'While councils fire off fixed penalty notices for fly-away envelopes, real criminals are being let off the hook,' says William Yarwood of the TaxPayers' Alliance. 'Taxpayers will be rightly jaded that trivial mishaps are being met with extortionate fines. Councils need to make sure that the private companies they hire don't have skewed incentives that encourage the handing out of fines merely to make a profit.' In November last year, Harrow council issued a five-year-old girl with a £1,000 FPN that claimed she had been 'witnessed by a uniformed officer… committing the offence of fly-tipping'. What had actually happened, according to the girl's father, was that parcel packaging with her name on it had been found on a neighbouring street due to overfilled communal bins. The child was then sent a 'final reminder' letter from the local authority's enforcement team the month after, which advised that it was 'about to instruct the council's legal team to start court proceedings'. Her father branded the fine 'absurd' and, after failing to resolve the issue himself, went to a ward surgery held by his local councillor. The issue was then raised at a council cabinet meeting, after which APCOA, the private contractor used by Harrow council to issue FPNs, apologised and the fine was dropped. Faye Borg, 82, was in Morden Hall Park, a National Trust property, in August last year when she was fined £150 for feeding the ducks. She was approached by two council wardens, who issued an FPN that said a 'female was seen throwing biscuits' into the River Wandle. Borg alleges that the two wardens, who worked for Kingdom, a company contracted to provide environmental enforcement services to local authorities, followed her to her doorstep, demanding she 'pay the fine on the spot'. Merton council subsequently apologised, sent a senior member to Borg's home with flowers, and said it was 'taking this matter up with our contractor to ensure that it does not happen again'. 'These kinds of absurd fines exist only because the companies are being paid per fine,' says Josie Appleton, the founder of the Manifesto Club. 'The Government is reviewing fining for profit, but it's taking far too long to do something about it. So long as wardens are being paid per fine, this is going to happen, no matter how many regulations are in place.' Hammersmith and Fulham council fined Clyde Strachan £1,000 for 'fly-tipping' in May when he put his bins out a few hours early. The 37-year-old was going away from his home for a few days, so he put his rubbish and recycling out at midday the day before the refuse was due to be collected. 'I deliberately put them out of the way on the pavement, tucked to one side against the wall so they weren't in anyone's way,' he said. 'It meant I had put them out about six or seven hours before… I would normally take them there.' When he returned home, however, he was issued with a £1,000 FPN, reduced to £500 if it were paid early. It stated: 'There was one large box, six bags of waste, and one food bin deposited on the pavement and left. It isn't collection day so it shouldn't be there.' The penalty was cancelled after Strachan appealed. He argued it was 'excessive' given he had made an 'honest mistake'. Last month, Richard Cameron, 45, was found guilty of four cycling offences for pedalling down Victoria Street in Grimsby town centre, which is subject to a public spaces protection order intended to deal with recurrent antisocial behaviour. In a press release, North East Lincolnshire council said that Cameron had received four FPNs for 'recurrent cycling offences' but 'had not paid the fines and was therefore summoned to Grimsby magistrates' court'. It continued: 'Also being prosecuted that day was Viktorija Kosareva, 28, of Smith Square, Doncaster, who was summoned for not paying an FPN she received for walking her dog on Cleethorpes beach when not permitted to do so… Neither individual attended court and both were proven guilty in their absence.' Cameron was ordered to pay £1,224, consisting of a £660 fine, £264 victim surcharge and costs of £300. Rubbish dumped on Veronika Mike and Zoltan Pinter's street in Stoke-on-Trent had started to attract rats, so they took matters into their own hands. The couple said the area had been blighted with 'disgusting' litter for years and 'just wanted it clean', so collected the refuse into an old cardboard box – addressed to Pinter – that he placed by his bins in the hope that it would be taken away by Stoke-on-Trent city council. 'I couldn't put it in the bins because they were full, so I left it beside them,' he said. A week later, Pinter was issued an FPN for 'an offence of failing to transfer waste to an authorised person', and fined £600. Mike was fined the same, despite her name not appearing on the cardboard box. The couple are paying the penalty in monthly instalments. When Violet Cooper, 38, arrived to collect Juliet, her lost chow-chow dog, in August last year, she was issued with a notice requiring her to update the microchip details within 21 days (microchipping has been compulsory for pet cats and dogs since April 2016). Cooper failed to do so, and last month was found guilty at Salisbury magistrates' court of failing to comply with the notice. She was fined £847.59 – a fine of £220, plus £539.59 in costs and an £88 victim surcharge. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Snooping litter enforcers have turned us into nervous wrecks'
Residents in a London commuter town claim they are being snooped on by heavy-handed enforcement officers hired by the council to fine fly-tippers. Households in Welwyn Hatfield, Hertfordshire, said they had become 'nervous wrecks' putting out their recycling bins after one was hit with a £500 penalty when officials, employed by the Labour-run council, spotted their address on a single flyaway envelope. And in another bizarre example, a Ukrainian refugee was accused of dumping a huge builder's sack of garden waste several streets away from her home – despite not owning a garden. Last September, Welwyn Council signed a contract with District Enforcement, a private company, to issue fines on the local authority's behalf for littering and fly-tipping. However, Tony Kingsbury, the opposition councillor, said the council's 'heavy-handed' decision to hire enforcement was driven by financial rather than environmental motivations and accused the local authority of 'picking on the low hanging fruit'. District Enforcement – which provides other services to councils such as managing car parks and moorings on Britain's waterways – receives a cut of the income from each Fixed Penalty Notice. Meanwhile, Welwyn Council, which is hiking tax bills by the maximum 2.99pc, receives a proportion of this revenue. Council documents, according to Mr Kingsbury, state the local authority will pocket £20,000 from the deal this year. He said: 'It's in their advantage to fine people as they'll get more money for it. The incentive is to fine the easiest people possible so they're picking on the low hanging fruit.' He highlighted how easy it is for a single letter to blow out of a bin, or for refuse workers to accidentally drop something: 'Yes it's right to tackle fly-tipping. But this is too heavy-handed. We see rural roads with piles of rubbish or a fridge dumped and we're talking about envelopes.' Claire Hattam, a hospice worker, told the local democracy reporting service that dealing with the penalty notice had left her 'feeling ill'. 'These people are horrendous. I'm like a nervous wreck putting out my recycling,' she said. A Ukrainian refugee was also left 'frustrated and upset' after receiving a £500 fine for allegedly fly-tipping a 'large builder's bag of garden waste,' despite living in a small flat with no garden. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, borrowed money to pay the fine as she was 'so scared of having to pay the increased fine or being taken to court in a foreign country' after receiving the 'intimidating' letter. Deborah Ronchetti, who started a Ukrainian support group in Welwyn Hatfield after Russia's invasion, contacted The Telegraph on her behalf to highlight the 'targeted campaign by the enforcers'. 'She lives in a small flat with no garden, but was accused of dumping a huge builder's sack of garden waste several streets away. The bags are full of wood and sticks and certainly weren't dragged there by her,' Ms Ronchetti explained. It comes as cash-strapped councils across the country are taking measures to increase revenue, including by hitting residents with parking fines and scrapping previously free services. Samantha Jackson was another target. She was issued a fine for fly-tipping after leaving her name on cardboard boxes she used to donate clothes to a local charity shop, the Welwyn Hatfield Times reported. She was fined because the boxes were found dumped by wheelie bins. 'The whole situation is disgusting. They are stressing people out and scaring them so that they pay. I am pregnant and do not need the added stress of potentially having to go to court over some boxes I used to donate clothes to a charity shop,' she told reporters. She was initially given two weeks to pay, but then received a second letter the following day informing her that this had been reduced to five, before it would be escalated to court. Meanwhile Tony Morton received a £500 fine despite living 150 miles away and never having visited Welwyn Hatfield, the local newspaper reported. Andrew Lewin, MP for Welwyn Hatfield, has written to the council 'more than 30 times on behalf of constituents who I believe were wrongly fined.' 'I want to see District Enforcement write to residents who have been affected to offer a personal and sincere apology. It is the very least they should do in the circumstances,' he added. The council has conducted a review but residents who have paid for the fines have not received a refund. A council spokesman said: 'We understand that receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) can be upsetting. A representation process is in place and District Enforcement has apologised to individuals for any upset caused. 'It's important to clarify that District Enforcement officers do not receive bonuses or incentives based on the number of FPNs issued. As the pilot phase comes close to its end, we will be reviewing the service.' A spokesman for District Enforcement said that a 'small number' of fines have been reviewed and either 'rescinded or reissued for lesser offences. We would like to apologise to those individuals for any upset cause.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
‘Snooping litter enforcers have turned us into nervous wrecks'
Residents in a London commuter town claim they are being snooped on by heavy-handed enforcement officers hired by the council to fine fly-tippers. Households in Welwyn Hatfield, Hertfordshire, said they had become 'nervous wrecks' putting out their recycling bins after one was hit with a £500 penalty when officials, employed by the Labour-run council, spotted their address on a single flyaway envelope. And in another bizarre example, a Ukrainian refugee was accused of dumping a huge builder's sack of garden waste several streets away from her home – despite not owning a garden. Last September, Welwyn Council signed a contract with District Enforcement, a private company, to issue fines on the local authority's behalf for littering and fly-tipping. However, Tony Kingsbury, the opposition councillor, said the council's 'heavy-handed' decision to hire enforcement was driven by financial rather than environmental motivations and accused the local authority of 'picking on the low hanging fruit'. Council to pocket £20k District Enforcement – which provides other services to councils such as managing car parks and moorings on Britain's waterways – receives a cut of the income from each Fixed Penalty Notice. Meanwhile, Welwyn Council, which is hiking tax bills by the maximum 2.99pc, receives a proportion of this revenue. Council documents, according to Mr Kingsbury, state the local authority will pocket £20,000 from the deal this year. He said: 'It's in their advantage to fine people as they'll get more money for it. The incentive is to fine the easiest people possible so they're picking on the low hanging fruit.' He highlighted how easy it is for a single letter to blow out of a bin, or for refuse workers to accidentally drop something: 'Yes it's right to tackle fly-tipping. But this is too heavy-handed. We see rural roads with piles of rubbish or a fridge dumped and we're talking about envelopes.' Claire Hattam, a hospice worker, told the local democracy reporting service that dealing with the penalty notice had left her 'feeling ill'. 'These people are horrendous. I'm like a nervous wreck putting out my recycling,' she said. 'Targeted campaign' A Ukrainian refugee was also left 'frustrated and upset' after receiving a £500 fine for allegedly fly-tipping a 'large builder's bag of garden waste,' despite living in a small flat with no garden. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, borrowed money to pay the fine as she was 'so scared of having to pay the increased fine or being taken to court in a foreign country' after receiving the 'intimidating' letter. Deborah Ronchetti, who started a Ukrainian support group in Welwyn Hatfield after Russia's invasion, contacted The Telegraph on her behalf to highlight the 'targeted campaign by the enforcers'. 'She lives in a small flat with no garden, but was accused of dumping a huge builder's sack of garden waste several streets away. The bags are full of wood and sticks and certainly weren't dragged there by her,' Ms Ronchetti explained. It comes as cash-strapped councils across the country are taking measures to increase revenue, including by hitting residents with parking fines and scrapping previously free services. Samantha Jackson was another target. She was issued a fine for fly-tipping after leaving her name on cardboard boxes she used to donate clothes to a local charity shop, the Welwyn Hatfield Times reported. She was fined because the boxes were found dumped by wheelie bins. 'The whole situation is disgusting. They are stressing people out and scaring them so that they pay. I am pregnant and do not need the added stress of potentially having to go to court over some boxes I used to donate clothes to a charity shop,' she told reporters. She was initially given two weeks to pay, but then received a second letter the following day informing her that this had been reduced to five, before it would be escalated to court. MP demanding 'personal and sincere' apologies Meanwhile Tony Morton received a £500 fine despite living 150 miles away and never having visited Welwyn Hatfield, the local newspaper reported. Andrew Lewin, MP for Welwyn Hatfield, has written to the council 'more than 30 times on behalf of constituents who I believe were wrongly fined.' 'I want to see District Enforcement write to residents who have been affected to offer a personal and sincere apology. It is the very least they should do in the circumstances,' he added. The council has conducted a review but residents who have paid for the fines have not received a refund. A council spokesman said: 'We understand that receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) can be upsetting. A representation process is in place and District Enforcement has apologised to individuals for any upset caused. 'It's important to clarify that District Enforcement officers do not receive bonuses or incentives based on the number of FPNs issued. As the pilot phase comes close to its end, we will be reviewing the service.' A spokesman for District Enforcement said that a 'small number' of fines have been reviewed and either 'rescinded or reissued for lesser offences. We would like to apologise to those individuals for any upset cause.'
The Guardian
16-03-2025
- The Guardian
Welwyn Hatfield council under fire as it issues ‘unjustified' fly-tipping fines
At first, Tony Morton thought the £500 fly-tipping fine was a scam. After all he had never even visited the spot, 150 miles away, where the litter addressed to him had apparently been discovered. 'I had to check on my phone to see where Welwyn Hatfield is,' said the 82-year-old retired tool maker. The letter from the private litter enforcers stated that if Morton paid the fine within 10 days, it would be reduced to £350. 'But the letter was dated December 6th and I only received it on January 6th,' he said. 'I only have my pension. I can't afford that.' Morton emailed a complaint to District Enforcement on 16 January but is still waiting for a response. 'It's cowardly of them not to reply, and unfair, especially when dealing with elderly people who are vulnerable and get worried about such things,' he said. Morton's is not the only case of apparently unfair fines given for fly-tipping in Welwyn Hatfield. Recently, MP Andrew Lewin held a meeting for 25 local residents, all of whom had tales of their own to relate. The Guardian has spoken to residents issued fines, including a hospice worker issued with two £500 fines for fly-tipping at her daughter's property. 'My daughter had been sectioned after a severe mental health breakdown and was back on day release to get her home ready,' said her mother. 'The envelope contained things I'd bought when she was in hospital and given to her. She bought the envelope home and placed it on top of her own bin, which was full.' When the resident complained, the fine was replaced with a warning that if any other litter was found bearing her address in the next 12 months, the original fine would be reinstated – along with the new one. 'I'm petrified and furious to have this hanging over me, especially when I did nothing wrong in the first place,' she said. Another mother was issued a fine after her daughter, who lives in supported housing, put an envelope addressed to her mother in her bin. 'The envelope was addressed to me because it was a Christmas present that I'd ordered for my daughter, and she'd taken home,' she said. 'She put it in her private bin – but the photo sent to us by District Enforcement showed the envelope had somehow jumped out of her bin, walked round the corner and lain down on the floor of a nearby communal bin area. 'When I complained, I was emailed an order to attend an interview – held under caution – in three days' time. If I didn't attend the meeting, they would take me to court and my non-attendance would be judged against me,' she said. When the resident replied, saying she couldn't take time off work at such short notice, an automated response said to not expect a response for 10 days. 'A week after the meeting I would be penalised for not attending,' she said. 'This was in late January and I'm still waiting for a reply. I've no idea if the case has been dropped or if this is something I've still got to fight'. Other cases include a father, raising his young children alone after the loss of his wife, who was fined and threatened with a criminal record after an envelope blew out of his bin, and a woman issued with a fine after an envelope was photographed by enforcement officers on her private driveway. Lewin said the council should apologise to residents issued fines that are 'awful, disproportionate and unjustified', often leaving them in 'a state of shock'. 'I have written to the council more than 30 times on behalf of constituents whom I believe have been wrongly served disproportionate and unjustified fines,' said Lewin. 'As has been reported in the Guardian, some of the individual stories are awful and I am calling for the council's policy to be urgently reviewed,' he said. 'I urge the council to apologise to residents for mistakes and ensure this policy is fixed for the future.' The councillor Tony Kingsbury, leader of the opposition at Welwyn Hatfield, has raised concerns several times in council meetings. 'Several businesses have been threatened with fines for minor, technical issues related to waste disposal, without warning or time to correct the situation, despite their efforts to act responsibly and in an environmentally-friendly manner,' he said. 'Given that District Enforcement is paid based on the fines they issue, with the council also receiving a portion of the revenue, there appears to be an incentive to pursue minor infractions rather than focus on serious environmental offenders, causing significant distress to the community,' he added. The councillor Sandreni Bonfante, executive member for environment at Welwyn Hatfield, said: 'I understand that it can be upsetting to receive a fixed-penalty notice (FPN) and, earlier in the year, my cabinet colleagues and I met with District Enforcement to make sure their processes are appropriate and fair. We will continue to review their performance throughout the trial period.' A District Enforcement spokesperson said: 'Measures are in place to ensure a thorough review of disputed penalties. A small number of FPNs reviewed have either been rescinded or reissued for lesser offences. We would like to apologise to those individuals for any upset caused.'
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
Man fined £500 for fly-tipping after ‘wind blew cardboard out of bin'
Council officials fined a man £500 for fly-tipping after the wind blew a cardboard box out of his bin. Martin Fielder, 47, was handed a fixed penalty notice (FPN) and threatened with a criminal record if he did not pay the fine. However, when Mr Fielder, who became the full-time carer of his two children after giving up his job when his wife died, threatened to go to court, the fine was reduced to £100. Mr Fielder, from Welwyn Garden City, Herts, said that high winds and foxes pushing bins over could have caused the cardboard to get out. He had previously been told he could face up to 12 months in prison if he refused to pay District Enforcement – a private enforcement agency employed by Welwyn Hatfield borough council. 'The FPN stated that I was in breach of section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 – or the offence of fly-tipping – because a box with my address on had been found 80 metres from my house,' Mr Fielder told The Guardian. 'The letter stated that if the fine was not paid within 28 days the matter would be referred to the magistrates' court, where I could go to prison for up to 12 months or receive a bigger fine, or both.' He described the attempted prosecution as 'extortion', adding that no one would call one loose bit of rubbish fly-tipping. The former IT specialist, whose wife died six years ago of a terminal illness, said that he had been in a 'state of anxiety' during his interactions with the enforcement agency and council. He suggested to District Enforcement that the cardboard envelope may have ended up on the grass from strong winds the previous night. Mr Fielder also sent pictures of foxes by his knocked-over bins and evidence of parcels going missing as evidence, which they ignored. 'I gave them three strong reasons why they couldn't assume I had done anything wrong,' he said. The company changed the fine to a £100 littering offence, after he told District Enforcement he planned to take them to court. 'It feels very much like they have a standard process of issuing a big fine, and if you push back, they issue a smaller one instead,' he continued. 'It's tempting to pay because going to court risks an increased fine and a criminal record, but I don't want to capitulate. I haven't done anything wrong.' Josie Appleton, the convener of the Manifesto Club, a civil liberties group, said: 'These companies are stretching the law beyond any reasonable interpretation, to enable the issuing of penalties.' A spokesman for Welwyn Hatfield borough council told The Guardian: 'District Enforcement officers are trained to carry out enforcement in line with legal standards and the council's enforcement policy. 'Measures are in place to ensure a thorough review of disputed penalties. If a dispute remains unresolved, we will carefully assess the evidence before determining any further enforcement action.' District Enforcement was approached for comment.
