Adur and Worthing councils are to hire a contractor for an environmental enforcement pilot scheme.
At a joint cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 8, Adur and Worthing councillors agreed to trial a 12 month scheme to help with littering, dog fouling, public space protection orders (PSPOs), commercial waste, and fly tipping enforcement.
National Enforcement Solutions (NES) was selected as the contractor for the scheme, with authority to finalise the deal delegated by councilors to the deputy chief executive and director for economy, regeneration and climate.
A report presented to the meeting said the service, once ‘up to speed’, would consist of four frontline officers and one team leader. It said the service aimed to be ‘self funding’ through fines and other revenue collected, and that it hoped to return an additional 15 per cent on top of this to the councils for reinvestment into the service.
The report said NES already worked with three other authorities in the South East and was in talks with a ‘number’ of other authorities in Sussex about potential future contracts.
A review of the rate of fixed penalty notices (FPN) issued for offences, such as dog fouling and fly tipping, throughout the trial would be undertaken at the end of the 12 months.
Council officers also said at the meeting the scheme would not extend to enforcing fines for people walking dogs where they are not supposed to.
Worthing Borough Council’s deputy leader, Rita Garner (Lab, Tarring), said the councils wanted this to be seen as a ‘positive contribution’ to their town centres and other areas. She said: “We want people that blend in and actually make it feel like a more welcoming and safe space to be – that people actually want to come back to”.
Adur council’s cabinet member for environment and leisure, Andrew Harvey (Lab, Eastbrook), said he was ‘very impressed’ by a presentation given to the council by NES, saying he felt NES ‘genuinely want to engage with the community’.
Worthing council’s cabinet member for safety, equalities and inclusion Rosey Whorlow (Lab, Central), said the council had to be ‘careful’ about the ‘story’ around the new service as a positive force, saying they had seen several residents complaining about the state of the town centre.
Adur cabinet member for communities and wellbeing, Sharon Sluman (Lab, Mash Barn), added there was a public consultation on PSPOs for dogs, which runs until midnight Sunday, August 10.
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