Call for Hartlepool enforcement officers to clamp down on dog fouling and littering in 2021

Councillors have called for dedicated resources to be made available to tackle the issues after it was reported three fixed penalty notices have been issued for dog fouling this year, along with five for littering.

They said this should come in January, after the launch of free car parking for three hours in council-run town centre car parks, as announced by the Tees Valley Combined Authority Mayor Ben Houchen last week.

Currently council civil enforcement officers cover a wide range of issues, stretching from dog fouling, litter and fly-tipping, to parking notices and nuisance vehicles.

Cllr Christopher Akers-Belcher, speaking at this week’s Hartlepool Borough Council Neighbourhood Services Committee, called for the council to look at focusing more resources on the ‘dire situation’ regarding dog fouling and litter.

He said this could be looked at when the free car parking starts in January.

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He said: “As elected members we receive lots of complaints around litter and dog fouling and it has to be commented on that five fixed penalty notices [in the past two years] issued with regards to dog fouling, given our complement of staff regardless, is absolutely dire.

“We have said so many times in so many meetings that there needs to be dedicated staff dealing with litter and dog fouling, rather than the easy targets with regards to car parking tickets.

“All I’m asking for is once when we implement the decision of the Combined Authority around free car parking, is for it to be considered to have some dedicated resources [for dog fouling and littering].”

A motion on the issue was seconded by Cllr Marjorie James and backed unanimously by councillors on the committee.

Council officers noted reports of dog fouling have dropped from 220 last year to 135 this year, although fixed penalty notices have risen from two to three.

Meanwhile there have been five fixed penalty notices for littering in 2020, compared to 14 in 2019.

Tony Hanson, council director of neighbourhoods and regulatory services, said key to tackling the issues of dog fouling and littering was detailed intelligence coming in from residents.

“My plea to residents and to members is that if people do approach you ask them to give us the intelligence that enables us to allocate those limited resources in the most appropriate way,” he said.

“It’s important to remember that the issuing of fixed penalty notices for both litter and dog fouling is extremely challenging, it’s not as simple as catching someone once.

“Once a member of the public tends to see an officer dressed in uniform they don’t tend to do the offence because they know they can be caught.

“It’s simply not good enough to say that there is an issue of dog fouling or littering outside a particular premise for 24 hours a day.”

It was noted by officers the council civil enforcement team is made up of a team leader, two supervisors and eight civil enforcement officers.

However since May 2020 there have been several staffing issues resulting in the team operating with only six enforcement officers, and for two months only five, although it is hoped replacements will be in place by the end of the year.

Funding has also been provided by the Thirteen Group to allow for the temporary employment of two additional civil enforcement officers for 18 months, who will focus on environmental issues, and the council hope they will be in place by Christmas.

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