REDDITCH Conservatives have welcomed the introduction of a new £100 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for breaches of Community Protection Notices.
From this month, individuals or businesses who fail to comply with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) can be fined £100 on the spot.
The change gives enforcement officers a quicker, more proportionate tool to tackle anti-social behaviour such as littering, fly-tipping, and dog fouling.
Coun Matt Dormer, leader of the Conservative group, said: “This is a step in the right direction and one we have long called for.
“But unless Labour backs this up with serious enforcement, it risks being an empty gesture.
“Residents are sick of littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling spoiling our town, and they expect firm action.
“The Conservative Group will keep pressing to make sure this is more than just a paper policy.”
Community Protection Notices were first introduced nationally in 2014 to deal with persistent behaviour that harms local communities.
Until now, Redditch Borough Council had no fixed penalty option for breaches, often leaving prosecution as the only alternative.
Coun Dormer added: “The powers are there.
“What matters now is whether Labour has the will to use them.
“Conservatives will always back tougher action to keep Redditch clean, green and safe – and we will hold Labour to account if they fail to deliver.”
Redditch Bourough Council leader, Coun Sharon Harvey, said the authority was stronger than ever and had issued more Fixed Penalty Notices recently than in previous years.
She said: Five FPNs have been issued since April, including for fly-tipping and littering, with 67 further investigations ongoing.
“And as clarified in the council meeting, FPNs under Community Protection Notices are a different, rarer thing.
“CPNs are issued only after several earlier steps have failed to stop the behaviour, and only the most serious cases tend to reach this stage, cases that would likely require prosecution anyway.
“So far, informal warnings – the first step – have been highly effective as people tend to see the writing on the wall and comply quickly, stopping the harmful behaviour and protecting the community without requiring us to progress on to costly legal action.”
