A TRIAL partnership has seen a huge increase in the number of fines issued for littering and fly-tipping, Reading Borough Council has announced.
A new initiative has seen more enforcement officers put on patrol, resulting in the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) increase more than tenfold, as part of a continued commitment to Keep Reading Tidy.
Six months into Reading Borough Council’s 12-month trial partnership with Kingdom Local Authority Support (KLAS), a total of 1,387 FPNs have been issued.
This compares to 94 issued during a comparable pre-trial period.
The KLAS partnership sees officers actively patrol and issue on-the-spot fines for littering and fly-tipping.
The trial is set to conclude in September this year, however a policy meeting at Reading Borough Council on Monday recommended continuing the partnership for up to three more years.
Evidence suggests that a partnership approach will continue to deliver high-profile enforcement activity in Reading which, alongside a programme of community engagement to raise public awareness, could deliver positive environmental outcomes and behaviour change.
Cllr Finn McGoldrick, Lead Member for Environmental Services and Community Safety at Reading Borough Council, said: “We are taking action on the issues that matter to residents, including keeping Reading neat and tidy with active enforcement.
“Anyone who chooses to dump rubbish or drop litter risks an on-the-spot fine and we are actively monitoring fly-tipping hotspots to catch, fine and punish the small minority of people who treat our town with such disrespect.
“These results, just halfway through our new focus on enforcement, are incredibly encouraging and show why regular patrols are needed to combat fly-tipping and littering reports.
“I encourage residents to help us keep Reading tidy by reporting any incidents of fly-tipping or litter to the Council through the Love Clean Streets (Reading) app, and we will continue to respond effectively through the issuing of fines where the evidence allows us to.”
