Camden Council is poised to increase fixed penalty notice (FPN) charges for fly-tipping, littering and graffiti in an attempt to deter offenders and clean up the borough’s filthy streets.
New legislation was passed last year that allows councils to raise the maximum fines issued for environmental offences. Camden last reviewed its charges in 2019.
The Council now wants to increase the FPNs from £400 to £1,000 for fly-tipping, from £100 to £120 for littering, and from £80 to £300 for graffiti and fly-posting. A discounted rate will be applied for FPNs paid within 10 days.
The rates are intended to be “reasonable and proportionate”, and to be affordable enough that repayment is possible at a quick rate, but harsh enough to deter offenders. If the FPN is set at too high a rate the alleged offender may challenge the fine and go to court, increasing time and expense for the council.
Camden says it has a range of enforcement options to combat environmental offences, including formal warnings, FPNs and prosecutions
Most enforcement action against offences is dealt with by FPNs, rather than prosecution.
“Camden received over 49,000 reports of fly tipping in 2022-23 and the majority of these are small scale (black bags, single items),” states a council report setting out the reasons for the changes.
However, the report did not reveal how many businesses or individuals were fined or the total amount of income brought in by FPNs to offset the cost of street cleaning.
Camden says that the current maximum FPN of £400 is not a deterrent to dumping waste because the fine is often cheaper than the cost of disposing the waste legally.
“Increasing the fine to the maximum amount £1,000 with the early payment discount increased will make the penalty for those caught offending more effective as a future deterrent and reflect Camden’s firm approach against those offenders having a detrimental impact on Camden’s local environment.”
Councillor Adam Harrison, cabinet member for a sustainable Camden, has approved the new FPN charges, and the report will now go for final approval at the Cabinet meeting of 17 July. If approved, the new FPN charges will come into force in August.
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