Hull's under-16s could face fines over dropped litter
CHILDREN as young as ten could be fined if they drop litter in Hull.
The city council is considering lowering its threshold for taking action against youngsters who commit so-called environmental crimes.
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Hull City Council is worried some under-16s feel 'untouchable' because of their age.
At the moment, the council only takes action against young people caught dropping litter, fly-posting or spraying graffiti if they are over the age of 16.
But officials are now asking councillors to consider supporting enforcement against children aged ten or above.
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Mark Cornall, the council's environmental crime unit manager, said some youngsters believed they were untouchable because of their age.
He said: "On the whole, officers who approach someone under 16 who has dropped some litter will usually be told to f*** off because they know we don't have the power to do anything about it."
One idea is to introduce a three-strike policy to deal with under-16s.
Under the move, children would be required to carry out community payback- style work such as litter-picking for up to three hours for first and second offences.
A third offence could trigger a £50 fixed-penalty fine.
Failure to pay the fine would lead to a formal prosecution through the youth court.
Another option for persistent offenders would be for them to agree to sign an acceptable behaviour contract or receive a formal police warning as an alternative to prosecution.
A similar regime is currently operated for 16 to 17-year-olds.
Speaking at a council scrutiny meeting, Mr Cornall said the proposed policy was aimed at tackling litter problems in areas close to secondary schools across the city.
Mr Cornall said: "We work with schools and police community support officers to deliver education about the issue but we can only do so much."
A final decision on whether to adopt the policy will be made by the council's cabinet. But councillors on the community safety scrutiny commission said they were against handing out possible fines to under-16s.
Councillor Dean Kirk said: "There are ways of dealing with dropping litter but this is not one of them.
"Someone could end up with a criminal conviction which could destroy their chances of a job somewhere down the line."
The cabinet is expected to discuss the issue next year.
Comments
by GCtheDJ
Thursday, October 18 2012, 2:32PM
“John47 and gw, I agree the kids need to be taught not to drop litter but my point is that if they do it they wont have to pay the fine. Docking it from the pocket money is fine, except that invariably they'll drop the litter the day after they've spent the pocket money.”
by ColonelKurtz
Thursday, October 18 2012, 1:18PM
“I would like to see the litter police get round town from 1.00am on a Saturday and give fines out to everyone who throws a pizza box, kebab wrapper, fag, etc on the floor.”
by bazzaovhull
Thursday, October 18 2012, 8:28AM
“dis is more opression ov young ppl”
by buornfree
Thursday, October 18 2012, 7:32AM
“the dust carts are some of the worst for dropping litter when tiping the bins they dont pick it up they leave it for some one else”
by glen1954
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 5:22PM
“Greenwich shops would be a good little earner for anyone giving out fines for dropping litter,dinner time is the best time to be there when the kids go for their healthy meals at the chippy and bakers . "The city council is considering lowering its threshold for taking action against youngsters who commit so-called environmental crimes"...go council go !!”
by Lambchop10
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 3:13PM
“I picked up a carrier bag full of cans, bottles, crisp bags and fag packets from outside of my house and surrounding area just last week.Two hours later there was more litter! It's beyond me why people don't take their litter home with them. On a similar theme, I couldn't believe the amount of trash down Walton Street on Friday night - the one and only domestic sized bin I saw was overflowing. **** stuffed in the residents fences, sliding on cartons of noodles and chips. Why didn't the council provide industrial sized dumpsters that could be wheeled away at regular intervals? It's ok the council saying they clean Walton Street but the rubbish travels further than that. They need to set an example - if a street is clean and rubbish free then peole are more likely to think about not dropping their litter. Millions of people pass through Disney parks on a daily basis but you never see one pice of litter. It's time to get tougher on offenders young or old.”
by EvolvedJonno
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 1:59PM
“I remember a few years back outside Astoria bingo bus stop on Holderness Road, a group of Malet Lambert kids threw there chips all over the floor on purpose, as they all walked off sniggering they quickly got pulled up by the police car that had been waiting at the traffic lights, the police frog marched them back to pick up the mess, what a sight it was, wiped the smirk off their faces, a few people started clapping whilst they picked up their mess.
So i say fine them all, if your too lazy to put your rubbish in the bin then you deserve the fine.”
by YorkieTed
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 1:33PM
“Good, but who's going to enforce this?
If HCC would like to send their patrols along james Reckitt Avenue or Ings Road Estate on a Friday lunchtime they would end up with hours and hours of free labour, the amount of rubbish the kids throw on peoples front gardens as they make their way back to school. And any child that swears at the enforcement patrols should have their time or find doubled.
So what if its the parents that end up paying the fine, in most cases its their examples the kids are copying, so maybe they'll end up taking more control of their kids if they ended up being fined.”
by SantiagoSam
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 6:51AM
“HCC (and EYCC too) have removed the great mojority of their rubbish bins (at bus stops etc) over the years ,to save on collection costs.
How concerned are they really about littering ?”
by ZilchUK
Monday, October 15 2012, 9:26PM
“The only acceptable amount of litter has got to be zero litter and if education doesn't work (and it seems that though everyone knows that they shouldn't litter they still do) then the only option is to get their attention and change their behaviour by imposing a financial penalty. Not dropping litter costs nothing but dropping it costs the earth!”