Agenda item
Use of Fixed Penalty Notices for Breaches of Byelaws and Setting of Penalties. Sections 15 – 18 London Local Authorities Act (LLA) 2004 – Facilitated Through London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee (TEC)
- Meeting of General Purposes Committee, Monday, 10th January, 2022 6.00 p.m. (Item 4.2)
- View the background to item 4.2
Minutes:
Ann Corbett, Director of Community Safety introduced the report and explained that anti-social behaviour (ASB) was a top priority for the Council and its residents. She explained that in 2017 the Council consulted with residents and published an ambitious ASB blueprint for action, in this blueprint the Council committed to utilising all of its powers to tackle the issues that impact upon the quality of life for residents as residents had expressed the need for more enforcement and visibility. It was noted that the Council had a large number of byelaws, and they covered a broad sweep of prohibited activity in places particularly such as parks and open spaces.
Ms Corbett explained that currently the only means to deal with breaches of byelaws was by way of a prosecution, this had proved to be inefficient, legally not cost effective and underused. It was highlighted that in Tower Hamlets in the years 2017/18 and 2018/19 combined, there were only fourteen prosecutions, of which six were withdrawn, two were not issued and only six were prosecuted. It was believed that there were inconsistencies as to how Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs) were able to dispose of some offences by means of fixed penalty notices (FPNs). Since April 2021, THEOs had issued approximately 600 FPNs for a variety of offences including the use of nitrous oxide, however there were other offences which were covered by byelaws but were not being used and so, THEOs were often on the street dealing with difficult and complex issues of anti-social behaviour and unable to effectively use the full range of powers available to them. Therefore, Ms Corbett asked Members to comment on the proposal put forward in the report and agree to the submission of this proposal for consideration by the London Councils Transport and Environmental Committee to authorise the use of FPNs for byelaws for the authority and set the penalty fees.
In response to questions the following was noted;
- Concerns were raised as to why Mudchute Park and St Andrews Wharf were not included in the list of parks and open spaces where byelaws applied. Officers confirmed that the list was compiled in 2012 and this would need to be checked to see why this was excluded.
- Further clarification was sought on whether the byelaws covered parks and open spaces across the whole of the borough. Officers confirmed that they would need to seek further clarification from Legal Services on this matter and would report back to the Committee at a future meeting.
- Officers to seek clarity on whether byelaws applied to privately managed areas such as St Katherine Dock, Limehouse basin, Canal path etc.
- It was noted that the FPNs were not proposed for the full list of byelaws listed in the schedule but were only for those listed on pages 34-37 of the report.
- That noise complaints from residential dwellings would need to be reported to the Noise Team/ Environmental Health via the normal statutory route.
- These byelaws would be encouraged and promoted, to ensure people were reporting issues, as well as this, reported offences and the number of FPNs would be closely monitored to help build up intelligence allowing THEOs to target hotspot areas and identify the issues that are being raised.
- Council's communication challenge channels and social media could be used to help prevent and deter breaches and also help promote the byelaws in place.
It was Agreed that officers would amend the report, to include clarification on whether the byelaws would apply to all parks and open spaces in the borough and investigate why some areas were not included in the list of grounds to which byelaws applied and this to be reported back to a future meeting of the General Purposes Committee.
Accordingly, the General Purposes Committee;
Resolved
1. To note the comments made on the proposal.
2. Officers to reflect on the comments made by the Committee and report back to a future General Purposes Committee meeting.
Supporting documents:
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Use of Fixed Penalty Notices for Breaches of Byelaws and Setting of Penalties. Sections 15 – 18 London Local Authorities Act (LLA) 2004 – Facilitated Through London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee (TEC), item 4.2
PDF 269 KB
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Appendix. 1 for Use of Fixed Penalty Notices for Breaches of Byelaws and Setting of Penalties. Sections 15 – 18 London Local Authorities Act (LLA) 2004 – Facilitated Through London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee (TEC), item 4.2
PDF 429 KB
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Appendix. 2 for Use of Fixed Penalty Notices for Breaches of Byelaws and Setting of Penalties. Sections 15 – 18 London Local Authorities Act (LLA) 2004 – Facilitated Through London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee (TEC), item 4.2
PDF 636 KB