Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Private Uniformed Officers to Police Litterbugs and Fly-Tippers in Haringey
People who litter in Haringey are to face tougher enforcement action as part of a new trial announced by the Council last week.
During a nine month trial starting on 21st of this month a new team of uniformed officers will patrol the streets handing out fines ranging from £80 to £400 to anyone aged 18 or over who is seen dropping or dumping rubbish or allowing their dogs to foul the streets.
The new regime will include handing out fines to anyone who drops chewing gum or cigarette butts. The officers will wear body cameras with footage used as evidence if required. People under the age of 18 will have their names and address taken for a letter to be issued to their parents.
The uniformed officers will be employed by Kingdom Security. The contract with the company is expected to cost £120,000 per year with the costs covered by money received from penalties issued.
Last year 586 fixed-penalty notices were issued for littering in Haringey. If the same number were to be fined in the coming year, this would generate an income of between £46,000 and almost a £¼M. Of course if detection rates increase significantly, a much higher sum could be expected.
Whilst more attention to littering will be welcome, there are reasons to give a cautious welcome to the new scheme. Kingdom Security claim in their promotional material that the environmental division is "led by experienced experts with police and military backgrounds" and recent press coverage suggests that their powers may sometimes be exercised with too little restraint.
Last year Maidstone Council suspended the operations of Kingdom's entire litter operation after a woman was fined for feeding the ducks. The Kent Messenger reported that the "£80 fixed penalty notice was issued to a woman feeding the ducks in Tovil – because the warden insisted no birds were present at the time."
In another incident a Twitter storm was unleashed when a photographer was arrested by Kingdom Security guards for taking pictures of a Golden Wonder crisps factory. Whilst the exchange is not particularly edifying from either side, the law was on the side of the photographer and the viewpoint of the Kingdom security guard rather indefensible:
The Manifesto Club (which describes itself as campaigning against the hyperregulation of everyday life) conducted a short investigation into Kingdom Security and found that the number of fines issued by the company has increased steeply. In 2011-12, the company issued 18,690 penalty notices on behalf of 13 councils. By 2014-15, that had climbed to 42,529 fines for 16 councils.
The Manifesto Club say that "In most cases, Kingdom Security receives a portion of each fine issued, between £40 and £75 of a £75 fine (on average, the company retains £45). In some cases, councils pay Kingdom Security on an hourly or annual contract basis, but this arrangement comes with ‘projected income’ figures: that is, the arrangement is based on a certain number of fines being issued."
The precise details of the Haringey contract have not been released, but there are some worrying local precedents. In 2014-15 Enfield Council received £221,200 after 6,255 penalty notices were issued by Kingdom – but the company was paid £279,090.
Apparently the vast majority of fines are issued for cigarette butts. However, fines are also being issued by Kingdom Security officers for: spitting, handing out leaflets without a licence and smoking in Taxi or work vehicles.
Whilst Haringey's focus on litter is to be welcomed, it is also to be hoped that they have drawn up a contract designed both to curb any excesses and to ensure value for money.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Mattresses, fridges etc picked up for free from your home. No need to dump on tne pavement. They won't take what looks like building waste, but that will fit in a car. Or a wheelbarrow. Tips open in two places seven days a week.
No excuses. Hang them.
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Yep.. Easy peasy.
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Permalink Reply by Katie K on
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Not goimg to be free for much longer unfortunately. Haringey's budget cut proposals include charging for bulky waste and green waste collections. Likely to be approved, I gather.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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And also getting rid of the recycling centres, according to Hugh's recent post - so even if you want dispose of waste responsibly, it won't be possible.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Haringey's litter policing contractor on TV tonight -- 'Litter police' get bonuses to target public, Panorama finds'
BBC News article -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39882434
Panorama programme -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08mk133
Ealing and Hertfordshire are the locations in the BBC News article. Does Haringey's contract with their contractor, Kingdom, permit bonus payments, I wonder.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks for the update. Here are a couple of quotes from the BBC article:
The number of fines issued for littering has risen from 727 to more than 140,000 in England and Wales over the past decade, according to freedom of information requests made in 2015-16 by civil liberties group, the Manifesto Club.
Josie Appleton, the group's spokeswoman, said companies such as Kingdom present councils with a "very seductive offer".
"They basically just say, 'Sign it over to us and we'll make you a bit of money and you won't lose anything.'"
But she said it was very concerning because "essentially what you have here is a fine on behalf of a public authority being contracted out to someone who basically has anything but the public interest at heart and so very much is seeking to make money".
and
A private company acting as the "litter police" for dozens of councils pays officers a bonus for issuing fines, an undercover Panorama report has found.
One officer from Kingdom Services, a leading enforcement company, claimed that his bonus one month was £987.
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Why isn't fining as many litterers as possible not in line with "the public interest"? No matter how hard they try they can't issue a fine for littering against someone who is not doing so.
I think it's a great business model and I am glad someone has come up with it.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Government overreach. Look how the paid-by-the-ticket traffic inspectors operate. They are far more likely to fine you if you forget to renew you parking permit than to fine the shopkeeper just by Dogtas who routinely leaves his van in front of the bus stop.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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It's a question of proportion. Do you fine someone £80 for pouring coffee down a drain or for accidentally dropping a piece of orange peel which they immediately pick up ?
I'm all for fining people who drop litter but take the bonus element out of it so that the wardens don't have an incentive to act on trivial instances.
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I will readily admit that when i spoke, I spoke of actual littering, of such nature that no one would argue that this was what occurred, be it leaving a bottle on the ground to the used condom and wrapper nicely left for me in my rear garden doorway at some point last night. I would not have thought someone gets ticketed for dumping coffee down a drain. If that were me I'd make a bee line to the definition of "litter" in the ordinance that the people in question are enforcing.
The traffic wardens isn't overreach. It keeps people from parking on our roads. But I would agree with you about the shop keepers. I see it - especially that one with the stuffed lions on top of the car. I thought they only did that on Sundays? I need more info on what they are getting away with versus the residents as I just haven't looked so closely.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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I used to work in litter enforcement for a local authority (not a private contractor) and I must say our primary aim was to deter littering. People often asked "how much do you make for this, then?" And the answer was not nearly enough to cover my salary, and the penalty money was ring fenced for prevention work anyway - things like buying pocket ashtrays to hand out. I can't see Kingdom bothering with pocket ashtray giveaways. It seems like a conflict of interest really.
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