Frequently Asked Questions 1
There is an area that I see frequently which is constantly
littered, what can I do about it ?
Litter and the law
People have complained for years about the problem of litter and the failure
to keep our streets and parks clean. Since 1990 the dropping of litter and the
subsequent clearing up have been regulated by the Environmental Protection Act (EPA).
It makes the Local Authority (Hillingdon) the Litter Authority for their area.
They are responsible for ensuring that all ‘relevant land’ is clear of litter.
If a piece of land is open to the public and open to the sky it is ‘relevant
land’.
What is Litter?
Almost everything deposited by human action is classed as litter, cigarette
ends, chewing gum, sweet wrappers refuse sacks etc. Leaves falling from a tree
are not litter but hedge clippings are.
Who are the culprits?
It must be remembered that it is people who create litter and the Local
Authority that have to clean it up. The EPA makes it an offence to drop litter,
this is punishable by a £2,500 fine. It is an offence whether the litter is
dropped by a pedestrian or from a car. It also gives a Litter Authority powers
to control businesses and other enterprises that create litter on adjoining land
such as car boot sales, fast food outlets and supermarkets etc. It makes it
possible for a Litter Authority to introduce a fixed penalty system to control
the dropping of litter. At present Hillingdon has not introduced a fixed penalty
system but is looking at it.
The Litter Code of Practice
When litter defaces an area of relevant land the local authority have to
clean it up. How quickly they have to do this is governed by the Litter Code of
Practice. The code gives grades for the amount of litter, from Grade A, free of
litter, to Grade D, heavily littered. It also categorises land according to use
so a town centre is a Zone 1, low density residential Zone 3, schools Zone 8
etc, all land is categorised including railway land. So a heavily littered town
centre should be cleared of litter in one hour, a heavily littered low density
residential should be cleared of litter in six hours. Full details are available
in the Litter Code Of Practice available at
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/litter/index.htm
A map showing details of the zones is a public domain document and must be freely available for a member of the public to inspect at the Civic Centre at any reasonable time.
What can you do when somewhere is littered?
Tell Hillingdon, their eyes cannot be everywhere (even with CCTV), call
Hillingdon’s Streetcare Line 01895 250050 and let them know the location and the
cause or origin of the litter if possible. Check to see if the litter is cleared
if it isn’t let them know again.
What if nothing happens?
The EPA does contain a remedy for a member of the public that is aggrieved
by the litter authority’s failure to carry out their responsibilities. The
aggrieved person has to give the Litter Authority written notice that in 5 days
they will go to the local magistrate’s court and make a complaint. The court can
make a litter order requiring the Litter Authority to carry out their duties and
fine them for every day they do not.
Who checks up on all this?
The local authority has to carry out random but regular checks on all its
land and roads and grade the cleanliness. The results of these checks are
published by the Audit Commission as Performance Indicators (PIs) alongside all
other authorities. These are available for inspection on
www.audit-commission.gov.uk/pis/.