Litter fines to be dropped

On-the-spot litter fines are set to be dropped in Wolverhampton and Sandwell if the offender is under the age of 18, the Express & Star can reveal.

Youths caught red handed by enforcement officers are set to be sent on a special 'educational programme' rather than be fined under radical new proposals by Wolverhampton City Council.

And in Sandwell, youngsters will be given the chance to swap paying a fine for a three-hour stint cleaning up rubbish from roads surrounding their school

Wolverhampton Labour Councillor George Lockett, who represents Oxley, said: "What we are concerned about is that we are criminalising young people, and at the end of the day, the advice from Government is parents should not pay for their child's littering.

"When we give out these fines it's unfeasible that children will pay it, because they can't – it goes to the parents. Regrettably, a lot of them get the habit from their parents.

"We need a larger educational programme, but how you do it, I don't know. Every day you see parents with toddlers dropping litter, and in many cases letting the toddler drop litter themselves.

"We all recognise that litter is an enormous problem in Wolverhampton, but our view is that we need some sort of restorative justice where children go on an educational programme to point out the errors of their ways."

Sandwell cabinet member for Neighbourhoods Councillor Mahboob Hussain said he was consulting with schools on the plans.

But he said if the authority decided to move ahead with the initiative, he would enforce the new powers as quickly as possible.

He said: "The litter problem is costing the council a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere. What we are proposing now is instead of issuing £75 fines, giving people the opportunity to pay or the kids have to put in three hours of litter picking.

"We are at the early stages but we are moving forward and are proposing to bring this in soon."

Wolverhampton's Children & Young People scrutiny panel first raised the proposal last week, and a report recommending the course of action is being prepared for the city council cabinet.

But Councillor Wendy Thompson, Tory spokeswoman for the environment in Wolverhampton, said: "I think it's completely mad – any kind of course just won't be enough to tackle the problem.

"Every school is educating young people about litter anyway. Queen's Square is disgusting on a Saturday as it is and I find the whole idea totally ludicrous. I think it's very patronising anyway that they think young people can't keep the place clean and that they need a different measure. It's simply wrong for Wolverhampton."

Over the last five years 60 people have been fined for dropping litter in Wolverhampton.