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Can local authorities require bins to be brought in off highway by section 46 EPA?
Answer:
YES. It is interesting that recent indications from the government suggest the government is considering legislation to prevent the issue of penalties for failing to bring bins back in - this does of course suggest that the government accepts that such powers do currently exist. The situation remains the same notwithstanding the waste review, as the government acknowledges that removal of criminal penalty powers will require amendment of primary legislation.
Membership fees start from as little as £900 per annum, per organisation.
Used well, our membership service has no real cost and can save money for our clients – how?
Answer:
YES. It is interesting that recent indications from the government suggest the government is considering legislation to prevent the issue of penalties for failing to bring bins back in - this does of course suggest that the government accepts that such powers do currently exist. The situation remains the same notwithstanding the waste review, as the government acknowledges that removal of criminal penalty powers will require amendment of primary legislation.
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Continues...... Regardless of the fact that several authorities have already obtained convictions in relation to non-compliance with such requirements, the answer is contained in section 46 itself: Section 46 provides that no requirement may be made to place a receptacle on highway unless consent has been obtained from the highway authority and there are sufficient insurance arrangements in place. No highway authority may give open ended consent to widespread obstruction of highway. Placement for collections necessarily involves recovery of any such receptacle as an essential part of that same process. To place a receptacle on highway and to leave it there is not a placement for collection, but an occupation of highway as a waste storage facility. Of course, in London, this is strengthened further by an amendment to section 46 that specifically states that requirements may be made to prevent detriment to amenity generally. I would add that the leaving of waste receptacles on highway is not only unsightly and obstructive but in many areas is known to be a significant contributor to other anti-social behaviour, such as arson and burglaries. |
David Armstrong
David began his legal career in private practice. He moved to work in the public sector in 1990 and practised as Head of Litigation for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council until 2001. During that time David managed and conducted all the authority’s contentious workload, both civil and criminal. He personally coordinated and managed the largest criminal prosecution ever brought by a local authority, involving over 400,000 exhibits and 27 warrant raids throughout the country. That prosecution, now known as “Operation Fox” resulted in prison sentences of up to 8 years for each of the defendants concerned and directly resulted in changes to the marking of condemned meats. David also has two leading civil Court of Appeal precedent cases to his credit.
David is widely acknowledged as a leading national authority on measures and tactics to efficiently manage local environmental issues.
David is the resident “Wig” and “Case Doctor” for Keep Britain Tidy and the Keep Britain Tidy Network and is also an occasional legal columnist for The Environmental Practitioner. Amongst other consultancy work, David personally authored Defra’s guides to cleansing enforcement, litter, graffiti and street litter control notices and recently re-authored the Defra / CIWM / KBT joint sponsored and approved fly-capture enforcement and LEQ training materials and programmes
He acted as a consultant to BBC Panorama’s first Neighbours from Hell programme and examples of his work in this field include training for organisations from the Environment Agency, the Cleaner Safer Greener Network, Keep Britain Tidy and Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group, to training and longer term consultancy for many, many local authorities throughout the country.
David has been engaged by a number of those local authorities to assess and re-draft their operational practices in environmental management, control and streetscene operations and, in one particular instance, produced a 700% increase in productivity according to that authority’s measurements, following procedural changes and consequent training.
David has also been engaged to provide consultancy services on behalf of Defra for the host London Boroughs in preparation for the 2012 Olympics. His expertise is recognised both nationally and internationally. He is a regular speaker at the Northern Ireland Litter Summits. He is now also contracted as a legal consultant to Tidy Northern Ireland and a core trainer for Central Law Training.
David was a significant contributor to the legislative enabling of Northern Ireland local authorities to regulate waste transfers and is the author of the currently (2011) proposed amendment to section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
As a practising advocate David’s experience is vast. He is a skilled interrogator and NLP Master Practitioner. He holds a range of qualifications in applied psychology. David has prosecuted numerous environmental crime cases, using both dedicated statutory and also general common law offences. He has also acted in a number of ground breaking civil actions, using creative tactics such as the employment of under-used common law trespass and nuisance principles to restrain nuisance and environmental crime. David also pioneered the now established practice of personal digital voice recording by local authority patrolling officers.
David is an accredited trainer with the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority to approve legal training provided for CPD purposes. David is also an accredited trainer for CIH, ILEX, CIEH, CIWM and Keep Britain Tidy (formerly EnCams) and is also a Defra approved trainer for the mandatory approved training requirements for authorisation of parish council FPN officers.
David began his legal career in private practice. He moved to work in the public sector in 1990 and practised as Head of Litigation for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council until 2001. During that time David managed and conducted all the authority’s contentious workload, both civil and criminal. He personally coordinated and managed the largest criminal prosecution ever brought by a local authority, involving over 400,000 exhibits and 27 warrant raids throughout the country. That prosecution, now known as “Operation Fox” resulted in prison sentences of up to 8 years for each of the defendants concerned and directly resulted in changes to the marking of condemned meats. David also has two leading civil Court of Appeal precedent cases to his credit.
David is widely acknowledged as a leading national authority on measures and tactics to efficiently manage local environmental issues.
David is the resident “Wig” and “Case Doctor” for Keep Britain Tidy and the Keep Britain Tidy Network and is also an occasional legal columnist for The Environmental Practitioner. Amongst other consultancy work, David personally authored Defra’s guides to cleansing enforcement, litter, graffiti and street litter control notices and recently re-authored the Defra / CIWM / KBT joint sponsored and approved fly-capture enforcement and LEQ training materials and programmes
He acted as a consultant to BBC Panorama’s first Neighbours from Hell programme and examples of his work in this field include training for organisations from the Environment Agency, the Cleaner Safer Greener Network, Keep Britain Tidy and Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group, to training and longer term consultancy for many, many local authorities throughout the country.
David has been engaged by a number of those local authorities to assess and re-draft their operational practices in environmental management, control and streetscene operations and, in one particular instance, produced a 700% increase in productivity according to that authority’s measurements, following procedural changes and consequent training.
David has also been engaged to provide consultancy services on behalf of Defra for the host London Boroughs in preparation for the 2012 Olympics. His expertise is recognised both nationally and internationally. He is a regular speaker at the Northern Ireland Litter Summits. He is now also contracted as a legal consultant to Tidy Northern Ireland and a core trainer for Central Law Training.
David was a significant contributor to the legislative enabling of Northern Ireland local authorities to regulate waste transfers and is the author of the currently (2011) proposed amendment to section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
As a practising advocate David’s experience is vast. He is a skilled interrogator and NLP Master Practitioner. He holds a range of qualifications in applied psychology. David has prosecuted numerous environmental crime cases, using both dedicated statutory and also general common law offences. He has also acted in a number of ground breaking civil actions, using creative tactics such as the employment of under-used common law trespass and nuisance principles to restrain nuisance and environmental crime. David also pioneered the now established practice of personal digital voice recording by local authority patrolling officers.
David is an accredited trainer with the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority to approve legal training provided for CPD purposes. David is also an accredited trainer for CIH, ILEX, CIEH, CIWM and Keep Britain Tidy (formerly EnCams) and is also a Defra approved trainer for the mandatory approved training requirements for authorisation of parish council FPN officers.