Steve Harden: Education without enforcement is failing our streets

Cllr Steve Harden is the Shadow Cabinet Member for Environmental Services on Rushmoor Borough Council.

Where should councils draw the line between education and enforcement in our communities? Education has an important role to play, but without enforcement it is failing to protect the cleanliness of our country.

I have noticed a worrying decline over the last couple of years in the cleanliness of our nation’s streets. Most back alleys or local fields have some kind of fly-tip, or you find yourself walking through the woods and seeing a bag of dog mess that someone has flung into a bush. I really don’t understand why people make the effort to pick it up, bag it and then throw it into the closest bush when a perfectly good bin is waiting nearby. Everywhere you look, litter seems to fill our streets.

Since being elected as a councillor, I have carried out multiple litter picks with colleagues and local residents, but there are only so many times volunteers can pick up the same litter that magically appears a couple of days later in the exact same spot.

In a council meeting last year, I reviewed our local plan, which seemed to be littered with ways to get more volunteers involved, asking them to pick up the where Labour is failing. While across the county we support volunteers and are grateful for the work they do, how can it be fair that more services are cut while more is expected of people constantly cleaning up their area?

Of course, like many, I believe people should carry out social responsibility, helping to keep their area clean and reporting offenders. When it becomes a part-time job, we know we have an issue.

Nowhere can this be seen more than in my own borough, Rushmoor, where litter-pick teams are going across the borough cleaning up other people’s mess. However, a recent council meeting made me wonder: where do we draw the line between education and enforcement?

In Rushmoor, if you drop litter, you can be certain you will not receive a fine if spotted. Why? Because our Labour council has decided the focus should be on educating people, not enforcing. This isn’t a hidden policy at Rushmoor; at just our last council meeting, Labour councillors were proud to announce that no fines had been issued to offenders.

Now you may think that perhaps there aren’t the resources to enforce, but Rushmoor, alongside many councils in the country, has a dedicated enforcement team patrolling areas looking for offenders. While they “educate” litterers, more and more volunteers are called into action to pick up the slack. Enforcement is not anti-community; it supports the dedicated volunteers going out every day and the law-abiding majority. Let me be clear: this is not a criticism of volunteers, whose time, effort and commitment are invaluable, but of councils using goodwill as a substitute for proper enforcement.

Fly-tipping across the county is another major issue. Fly-tipping incidents in England are now at their highest recorded levels. I was pleased to see that the Conservatives are calling for legislation to come forward to increase the maximum fine, currently £1,000 for those caught. This would make a huge difference in our area, helping to reduce this fly-tipping plague.

Despite many councils needing to reduce cleanliness services in this year’s budget due to inflation, National Insurance rises and, in some cases, the “fair funding review”, Labour-run councils like ours seem to be focusing on schemes that give the illusion things are improving when reality says something different. Labour here in Rushmoor created a pilot scheme called Walk This Waste.

The idea was that a van would drive around Rushmoor asking people to carry their fridge freezer or oven to the van for removal. This scheme cost thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money. Worse still, the scheme failed to reduce fly-tipping and, in some instances, increased it. I suppose it was slightly better than their reported idea of placing skips on major roads through the borough.

I, for one, agree with educating people on keeping the borough clean, putting waste in the bin and not falling to the temptation to fling a poo bag into a bush (however strong that may be…). However, it must be done in conjunction with enforcement. I myself have worked with local schools and taken part in local litter picks with all ages, which does bring a great community spirit. However, if Labour continues to forget enforcement, sadly people will often take the easy option.

If we believe in pride in our country, then we must also believe in caring for it – and that is why Conservatives should be leading the call to clean up Britain.