BASILDON Council is to increase fixed penalty notice (FPN) fines for waste disposal offences in a bid to crack down on what members labelled "environmental vandalism".

At their recent meeting cabinet senior councillors voted to raise the upper limits of fines for offences related to fly tipping, littering, and household waste duty of care.

The upper limits for FPN fines for breaches of this kind will be as follows going forward; the upper limit for fly tipping will increase to £1,000 from £400, littering to £500 from £150 and household waste duty of care to £600 from £400.

In each case, those caught committing an environmental offence who are handed a fixed penalty notice will have between 10 and 14 days to pay Basildon Council in order to receive a significant discount on the fine. Non-payment will result in the local authority seeking prosecution of the individual responsible.

Introducing the motion, Cllr Kevin Blake shared that Basildon's enforcement country had been recognised as third in the country for the number of FPN fines handed to offenders.

However, he said: "I would rather see us at the bottom of the list for handing out fixed penalty notices.

"We want people to abide by the law so that we don't have anybody being fined."

During the 2022/23 financial year, 4,626 FPNs were issued by Basildon Council for littering offences, 147 for incidents of fly tipping and 13 for neglecting a duty of care in relation to household waste disposal.

Collectively, these resulted in a total of £81,000 of income received by the council.

Despite this high figure, Cllr Stuart Sullivan said: "We (the council) are not putting up fines to increase the amount of income we're getting… it's purely for the purposes of deterring (offenders) and prevention."

Supporting Cllr Sullivan's sentiments, Cllr Terri Sargent stressed the importance of recognising the amount of effort placed in imposing FPNs initially, and how important fines are "so we (councillors) do not detract from what we are trying to achieve".

She added: "This will not be a cash cow; it's there to improve our borough.

"The less cash we get (from FPNs) means more residents are doing the right thing."

In relation to fly tipping incidents across the borough, Councillor Andrew Schrader (Con., Billericay East) said: "I think we (the council) need a zero-tolerance approach.

"It's a blight; it's incredibly anti-social and it costs us a lot of money to clean up. The (FPN) fines should match the magnitude of the effects."

Cllr Craig Rimmer spoke of witnessing "shocking situations" in which individuals working for third-party waste disposal companies subcontracted by Basildon Council threw waste into hedges in residential areas.

To ensure the correct people are held responsible for offences of this kind, Cllr Terry Webb said: "I will emphasise the need for greater communication with residents, warning of the pitfalls that can occur when (the council) engages with the services of third-party companies."

Cllr Webb also asserted the need for the continued education of residents on responsible waste disposal in conjunction with the issuing of FPNs in order for the council to strengthen its preventative measures in the borough.