A private company contracted by the local authority in Bridgend to crack down on littering in the county has issued more than £25,000 worth of fines in five months.
Bridgend County Borough Council appointed 3GS in April on an initial one-year contract.
From May to September, 3GS enforcement officers have issued almost 400 fines – the vast majority to people dropping cigarettes.
A report going before a council scrutiny committee on Thursday, November 14, shows 383 fixed penalty notices were issued for littering cigarettes, eight fines for dropping general litter and two fines for littering food waste.
The numbers could have been higher – 3GS suspended its operations briefly in September after replacing two of its enforcement officers and retraining new ones for the county area.
Officers said there was a payment rate of around 70%.
Many of the fines were issued in Bridgend town centre, Newbridge Fields and Porthcawl.
People are given 28 days to pay the fine and if no payment is made, they are issued with a reminder letter.
After that period, 3GS prepares a case file which is then submitted to the council’s legal department.
The latest figures show four people are currently being prosecuted for not paying their fines, with 70 cases pending prosecution.
In its report for the council, 3GS said 22 fines had been issued in error.
The contract with 3GS is based on a ‘cost neutral’ format, where the council
doesn’t pay 3GS but the company recovers its operating costs from the revenue generated through issuing fines and the payments received.
Council officers said the type of contract placed communication, public relations and reduction of offences above pure income generation, adding any surplus that 3GS accrued over and above its operating costs, overheads and profits was shared with the council.
Since the end of August, 3GS has also been enforcing against dog fouling, fining dog walkers if they fail to pick up their dog’s mess, are unable to show that they have dog poo bags with them or fail to put their dog on a lead when requested to do so by an enforcement officer.
