Members received and considered the report of the Head of Environmental Services, Licensing and Community Safety which sought approval to procure a concessionary agreement, as a closed quote with selected providers, to carry out the enforcement of environmental offences.

The Council could employ a private company, to carry out the enforcement of certain environmental offences, including dog fouling, littering, fly-tipping (unauthorised disposal of waste) using a concession agreement.  Other authorities used contractors, who employed uniformed staff to patrol their districts, identifying offences and issuing fixed penalty notices (FPNs). The service would include the prosecution of offenders who failed to pay an FPN, which was a statutory requirement. The company would also be required to carry out promotional work, for example issuing dog waste bags and portable ashtrays and organising litter picks.  The Council would have some discretion over the requirements of the contractor to ensure that local priorities were targeted and not just the high earning common offences that would create more fee income.

It was intended that the contract would include the use of a private Solicitor to carry out prosecutions, if authorised by the Deputy Chief Executive or Head of Service.  By using a concessionary agreement, there would be no costs to the Council, as these would be met from the income received by the company by issuing FPNs. However, there would be associated management costs associated with monitoring the contract.  As the value of the concession agreement would be under the public procurement threshold, an exemption could be made to the open tender route and the procurement run as a closed quote with a select number of providers.  Provision would be made to review the contract at 12-month intervals to determine whether to continue or procure a new contract for a longer period, with a ‘break out’ clause should it be necessary to end the contract sooner.  Members were keen to ensure Member input to the process, both pre and post tender and that a comprehensive communication strategy was also put in place once the contract was let.

RESOLVED:  That the Deputy Chief Executive be authorised to procure a concessionary agreement as a closed quote with selected providers, to carry out the enforcement of environmental offences.