Appendix 4: outcomes of consultation – household waste bin offences

This appendix presents the results from the public consultation on introducing enforcement measures to tackle household waste bin offences across the city.

There were 770 responses to the consultation which ran from 12 July 2022 to 28 August 2022. Some numbers do not add up to 770 as not all questions were answered each time.

The first table under each question contains the results from all respondents. The remaining two tables under each question are the responses from residents that responded “yes” to “does your household use household waste bins for your rubbish and recycling and/or boxes for your recycling or glass”. This is to better understand the views of the residents potentially affected by the proposals. The majority of responses were received from residents who do use bins and boxes:

Question 8 – “Does your household use household waste bins for your rubbish and recycling and/or boxes for your recycling or glass?”
Yes	690	89.6%
No	54	7.0%
Don’t know / not sure	5	0.6%
Not answered	21	2.7%
Total	770	99.9%

	Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don’t know / not sure
Question 1a – “To what extent do you agree or disagree that household waste bins are causing a nuisance, or having a negative effect on local amenities, in your local area?”
A local stakeholder		1
A local community or voluntary group	1	1		1	1
Resident of Brighton & Hove	328	138	46	95	139
Visitor	3	2
Other	2			1	2
Not answered	3			2	1
Total	337	142	46	99	143	1
Percentage	43.9%	18.5%	6.0%	12.9%	18.6%	0.1%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have adequate room in front of your home to store your waste bins or recycling boxes?
Yes	223	87	26	66	74	1
No	66	35	12	20	45
Don’t know / not sure	6	7	1	8	8
Not answered	3
Total	298	129	39	94	127	1
Percentage	43.3%	18.8%	5.7%	13.7%	18.5%	0.1%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have a back garden or outside area?
Yes	263	114	34	84	106	1
No	33	15	5	10	19
Don’t know / not sure
Not answered	2				2
Total	298	129	39	94	127	1
Percentage	43.3%	18.8%	5.7%	13.7%	18.5%	0.1%
Question 1b – “To what extent do you agree or disagree that household waste bins are causing a nuisance, or having a negative effect on local amenities, in Brighton & Hove?”
A local stakeholder				1
A local community or voluntary group	2		1		1
Resident of Brighton & Hove	321	150	78	71	72	23
Visitor	3	2
Other	2	1		1	1
Not answered	2			2	1
Total	330	153	79	75	75	23
Percentage	44.9%	20.8%	10.7%	10.2%	10.2%	3.1%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have adequate room in front of your home to store your waste bins or recycling boxes?
Yes	221	90	47	41	36	16
No	65	39	20	22	27	3
Don’t know / not sure	6	9	6	5	3	1
Not answered	1	1	1
Total	293	139	74	68	66	20
Percentage	44.4%	21.1%	11.2%	10.3%	10.0%	3.0%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have a back garden or outside area?
Yes	259	122	66	59	52	17
No	32	17	8	9	13	2
Don’t know / not sure
Not answered	2				1	1
Total	293	139	74	68	66	20
Percentage	44.4%	21.1%	11.2%	10.3%	10.0%	3.0%
Question 2 – “To what extent do you agree or disagree that the council should introduce measures to address household waste bins causing a nuisance, or having a negative effect on local amenities, in your local area?”
A local stakeholder		1
A local community or voluntary group	3		1
Resident of Brighton & Hove	361	149	36	74	122	5
Visitor	3		2
Other	2	1		1
Not answered	4			1	1
Total	373	151	39	76	123	5
Percentage	48.6%	19.7%	5.1%	9.9%	16.0%	0.7%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have adequate room in front of your home to store your waste bins or recycling boxes?
Yes	254	93	22	42	63	4
No	66	35	8	21	46	1
Don’t know / not sure	7	7	2	9	5
Not answered	3
Total	330	135	32	72	114	5
Percentage	48.0	19.6%	4.7%	10.5%	16.6%	0.7%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have a back garden or outside area?
Yes	298	121	27	66	88	3
No	31	14	5	6	23	2
Don’t know / not sure
Not answered	1
Total	330	135	32	72	114	5
Percentage	48.0	19.6%	4.7%	10.5%	16.6%	0.7%
Question 3 – “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the proposal described?”
A local stakeholder			1
A local community or voluntary group	2	1	1
Resident of Brighton & Hove	261	146	48	88	191	6
Visitor	2		1	1	1
Other	2	1		1
Not answered	3	1		1	1
Total	270	149	51	91	193	6
Percentage	35.5%	19.6%	6.7%	12.0%	25.4%	0.8%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have adequate room in front of your home to store your waste bins or recycling boxes?
Yes	197	101	30	52	89	4
No	39	22	13	26	75	1
Don’t know / not sure	3	7	2	6	12
Not answered	2
Total	241	130	45	84	176	5
Percentage	35.4%	19.1%	6.6%	12.3%	25.8%	0.7%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have a back garden or outside area?
Yes	220	120	40	73	139	5
No	20	10	5	11	34	0
Don’t know / not sure
Not answered	1				3
Total	241	130	45	84	176	5
Percentage	35.4%	19.1%	6.6%	12.3%	25.8%	0.7%
Question 4 – “To what extent do you agree or disagree that an FPN of £80 should be issued if the request to fix the problem is not resolved?”
A local stakeholder				1
A local community or voluntary group	1	2	1
Resident of Brighton & Hove	253	136	46	75	231	5
Visitor	2		1	1	1
Other	1	1	1	1
Not answered	1			1	1
Total	261	139	49	79	233	5
Percentage	34.1%	18.1%	6.4%	10.3%	30.4%	0.7%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have adequate room in front of your home to store your waste bins or recycling boxes?
Yes	192	90	32	44	116	3
No	35	27	7	24	83	2
Don’t know / not sure	4	6	2	6	12
Not answered	1				1
Total	232	123	41	74	212	5
Percentage	33.8%	17.9%	6.0%	10.8%	30.9%	0.7%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have a back garden or outside area?
Yes	214	108	35	66	173	8
No	18	14	6	8	36
Don’t know / not sure
Not answered		1			3
Total	232	123	41	74	212	5
Percentage	33.8%	17.9%	6.0%	10.8%	30.9%	0.7%
Question 5 – “To what extent do you agree or disagree that, where possible, residents should store their bins and boxes in their back gardens, if there is no room on the pavement, except in exceptional circumstances?”
A local stakeholder			1
A local community or voluntary group	2	1		1
Resident of Brighton & Hove	272	126	53	92	196	9
Visitor	2	3
Other	3		1
Not answered		2		1	2	1
Total	279	132	55	94	198	10
Percentage	36.3%	17.2%	7.2%	12.2%	25.8%	1.3%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have adequate room in front of your home to store your waste bins or recycling boxes?
Yes	194	89	33	64	92	6
No	39	23	14	21	80	1
Don’t know / not sure	5	9	1	3	11	1
Not answered	2				1
Total	240	121	48	88	184	8
Percentage	34.8%	17.6%	7.0%	12.8%	26.7%	1.2%
Of those that do use bins and boxes… Do you have a back garden or outside area?
Yes	216	112	41	74	152	8
No	23	9	6	14	30
Don’t know / not sure
Not answered	1		1
Total	240	121	48	88	184	8
Percentage	34.8%	17.6%	7.0%	12.8%	26.7%	1.2%

Question 7 – “How are you responding to this consultation? As a...”

Stakeholder	Count	Percentage
A local business	0	0.00%
A local community or voluntary group	4	0.52%
Resident of Brighton & Hove	749	97.27%
Visitor	5	0.65%
Other	5	0.65%
Total	763	100%

Question 6 – “Do you have any further feedback on the proposals?”

Theme	Number	Comments
If collections took place on their advertised day, there would not be a need to leave them on the pavement for a prolonged period of time	120	Other work is being completed to improve refuse and recycling collections. If a bin or box has been left on the pavement due to non-collection on the specified day, enforcement will not be initiated.
Some households have no other option but to store on the pavement e.g. too difficult to take through house, back garden too small, no outside space, too many steps, bin too heavy	104	Cityclean recognises that some households have no other option but to store their bin or box on the pavement. If a bin or box has been left on the pavement due to no adequate private outside storage space, enforcement will not be initiated.
Introduce more communal bins	44	The rollout of further communal bins is being considered through another project. Residents will be consulted on proposals to introduce communal bins on their road.
Collection staff need to replace the bins to where they collected them from	31	This feedback has been noted and shared with the Collections Team.
Other things cause pavement access problems - street furniture, A boards, weeds, tree roots, overgrown bushes, verges, tables and chairs, bikes chained to street furniture	23	Obstructions relating to  street furniture, A boards, tree roots, overgrown bushes, tables and chairs, bikes chained to street furniture can be reported via https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/parking-and-travel/roads-and-highways/highway-obstructions Issues with weeds can be reported via https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/report-problem-and-request-clean
Provide smaller bins	19	Three sizes of bin are available: 140 litre, 240 litre and 360 litre. Residents can request a smaller one online or by calling the Environment Contact Centre.
The council introduced the bins in areas where they are not suitable	17	Cityclean recognises that some households have no other option but to store their bin or box on the pavement. An alternative for some areas is communal collections, which is being considered through another project. Residents will be consulted on proposals to introduce communal bins on their road.
Converted houses have too many bins; encourage sharing	16	Cityclean recommended that residents share bins where practicable. Cityclean does not have the resources to visit each household to facilitate this arrangement to it is down to individual households to speak with their neighbours.
More information/criteria required	15	Further information is available in the Environmental Enforcement Framework. The council website will also be updated.
Increase frequency of collections to lessen the problem	11	Increasing collections is not considered to be a solution. Other work is being completed to improve refuse and recycling collections.
Allow households to use dustbins and/or black sacks	10	Cityclean introduced wheelie bins for refuse and recycling many years ago for health and safety reasons. The repetitive nature of bending and removing bags from the ground and/or old-style dustbins creates a manual handling risk for staff who would have to repeat this task hundreds of times a day. The introduction of wheelie bins has removed the need to repeatedly lift (potentially very heavy) bags of waste from a household into the back of truck. Through the introduction of containers that can be lifted mechanically, Cityclean has eliminated the risk for this staff. Therefore, it is not possible to return to dustbins and/or black sacks.
Concerns about impact on elderly, disabled	9	Concerns about the impact on some groups of people have been recognised. The approach to enforcement has been amended based on this feedback and individual circumstances will be taken into account.
Action should be taken against landlords with problematic tenants e.g. HMOs	8	The legislation stipulates that action should be taken against the householder. Options will be explored for working with landlords.
Concerns about ability to pay / cost of living crisis	8	Suitable payment plan options can be considered for those experiencing financial hardship. A FPN will only be issued when the first two stages have not been adhered to
£80 too high - should be less	7	The minimum FPN amount for this offence is £60. £80 has been proposed to keep in line with other offences within the Environmental Enforcement Framework and as per committee approval, FPN amounts are set to their highest amount possible. A FPN will only be issued when the first two stages have not been adhered to
Communal bins cause more problems than household bins	7	Noted. Other activities are underway to improve the communal bin system.
Introduce underground bins	7	It is not possible to introduce underground bins at present due to officer capacity, funding and the complex underground infrastructure of the city. Cityclean is however interested for the future and open to all ideas. Cityclean is keeping an interested eye on the current underground bin trial in Liverpool.
More reasonable to store boxes inside	6	Where possible, Cityclean encourages residents to store their bins and/or boxes inside.
Encourage people to reduce the volume of waste they produce	5	This is something we should all be doing. Cityclean will consider what additional activities it can complete to encourage this, including a new reducing waste campaign to be launched in the New Year.
Money making scheme	5	Income received from the issuing of FPNs and CPNs is used for specific environmental purposes such as providing additional litter and dog bins and to fund environmental education for local schools.
Store in driveway or front garden too	5	Yes, wherever possible, residents are encouraged to store their bins off the pavement.
Black boxes are not fit for purpose e.g. lead to litter and vermin	4	An alternative for some areas is communal collections, which is being considered through another project. Residents will be consulted on proposals to introduce communal bins on their road.
Council should focus on other things e.g. tidying up the city, graffiti, and more pressing issues	4	The Environmental Enforcement team patrol the city daily looking for anyone committing environmental crimes. This includes graffiti/tagging. Fixed Penalty Notices and/or prosecution will be taken against those responsible.
Designate areas of the road for bins to be left in - parking spaces, if needed	4	The rollout of further communal bins is being considered through another project. Residents will be consulted on proposals to introduce communal bins on their road.
Provide guidance on suitable storage e.g. removing other things (hedge) to make room for bin storage? Can mini ramps be provided if possible storage is up steps in back garden? Enclosures, screens etc. particularly for high density areas	4	In cases where it is determined that there is space to move a bin onto a property, this will be discussed with the householder and advice and signposting can be provided as necessary.
Take action for side waste and overflowing bins too	4	These issues will be addressed through these new enforcement measures where the waste or side waste is likely to attract vermin.
Commercial bins also need to be addressed e.g. Portland Road	3	The council has recently introduced time banding zones in some areas of the city, meaning businesses can only have their receptacles out on the public highway during certain times of the day. Currently, this is between 6pm until 9am the following day. EEOs will issue Fixed Penalty Notices to those breaching these time bandings or to any waste receptacle that is overflowing and have waste escaping.
Do not introduce more communal bins because of this	3	The rollout of further communal bins is being considered through another project. Residents will be consulted on proposals to introduce communal bins on their road.
Encourage people to change their behaviour rather than fine	3	The issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices forms part of the education process to both residents and visitors to the city. Information is available on the council website and where possible, printed material will be provided by officers.
Lots of unused bins on the streets	3	This is helpful feedback. Where Cityclean is aware of an unused bin, it will be retrieved.
Recycle more materials	3	Other activities are taking place to consider increasing the range of materials collected.
Vehicles parking on pavements is also an issue	3	Parking Enforcement Officers can issue Penalty Charge Notices to vehicles parked on the pavement if they are parked adjacent to double yellow lines, zig zags, bus stops or taxi ranks. Any vehicles parked on the pavement where this applies can be reported on 03456 035 469 and selecting option 2.  For vehicles parked on the pavement where this does not apply, Parking Enforcement Officers can only currently issue warning notices. The council has been lobbying central government for powers to tackle pavement parking, similar to those that have been in place in London since the 1970s.  The Department for Transport carried out consultations on pavement parking over two years ago. The council is awaiting an announcement on any new powers.