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'Envirocrime' snoops paid £30,000 just to check your rubbish
Last updated at 21:52pm on 21.04.07A council is paying plain-clothes snoopers £30,000 a year to track down homeowners who put their rubbish out at the wrong time of the week or in the wrong place.
The 'envirocrime' officers are employed to enforce environmental regulations and have the power to fine residents who 'offend'.
Ealing Council in West London is spending nearly £150,000 on recruiting and employing four new enforcement patrollers to add to its 23-strong team that already monitors 'waste disposal' regulations.
The same council attracted controversy last month when it was revealed it had drawn up plans to use hidden CCTV to catch fly-tippers.
Of more than a dozen councils levying fines since the introduction of legislation a year ago enabling local authorities to pursue residents, Ealing charges what it calls 'envirocriminals' the most, with a £110 penalty notice.
Now, the revelation that £35,500 is being spent on each 'envirocrime' officer in Ealing will enrage both low-paid public-sector workers and those who believe councils are taking a heavy-handed approach to rubbish collection.
Neil Dhot, head of communications at Ealing Council, refused to say how much of the £142,000 spent on the officers was made up of their wages, claiming recruitment costs were included in the sum.
Yet a newly qualified nurse is paid just £19,166, a midwife £31,004 and an Army lieutenant £27,762.
Christine Melsom, founder of IsItfair, which campaigns for council-tax reform, said: "They are being heavy-handed. We are living in a world where everything we do is watched and regulated. George Orwell has arrived. If you go to work early it is difficult to get it right with the rubbish."
Fixed penalties totalling more than £185,000 have been issued this year nationally to people who put their rubbish out for binmen too early.
According to facts released under the Freedom Of Information Act, Birmingham issued the most with 592 penalty notices for envirocrimes in the past 12 months, Kensington and Chelsea 365 and Cardiff 264. Ealing issued just 11 - but its charge was the highest, equal with Medway.
A spokesman for Ealing Council said the officers were not just focused on homeowners but were employed 'to monitor and enforce legislation affecting the borough's streets, including fly-tipping, waste disposal, illegal street trading, graffiti and various Highways Act offences."
He added: "We aim to educate residents before the last resort of issuing fines. If people do not act on warnings we have the power to issue penalty notices. The fine is £110 but if it is paid within ten days it will be reduced to £60."
Reader views (4)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
I am all for councils issuing fixed penalty notices where education fails. Enviro crime has a serious impact on out environment and needs to be addressed. Domestic waste problems are only a small part of the work of environmental officers. When will people stop taking out their council tax gripes on decent public sector workers?
- Martin, London, England
What are they doing with all the council tax we pay?
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London
Why don't Ealing council spend the 150 thousand pounds on rubish collection? This psuedo crime of putting the rubbish out too early has been invented simply to gather yet more revenue, revenue which is being wasted.
- Tobin, Andover
This is just a money making scam and must be against the law. How can councils employ spies to spy on the people they work for which is the punters.
It must be illegal. I hope someone takes the council to court.
- Jane, London
