Dropping litter, dumping waste and failing to pick up after your dog are punishable offences. Enforcement can play a vital role in keeping our communities clean and encouraging responsible behaviour.
There is a lot of legislation and mechanisms available to help local authorities tackle these environmental crimes, including Fixed Penalty Notices. These give someone who has committed an offence an opportunity to avoid prosecution by the court, by paying a sum of money. Over the past few years, as more local authorities have turned to private companies to help with enforcement, the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued in Wales has seen a big increase.
However, enforcement alone is ineffective. ‘Smart enforcement’ should target persistent issues and problem areas on a rolling basis by identifying and using available data. It’s important that enforcement is part of a wider plan which focuses on prevention, behaviour change and education. A clean area is one that is free from litter, fly-tipping and dog fouling in the first place. Keep Wales Tidy encourages any revenue generated by enforcement practices to be invested back into the community.
