September 27, 2018 10.10 am This story is over 75 months old

Dog fouling fine increase in North East Lincolnshire

No excuses

People who fail to pick up dog fouling in North East Lincolnshire will now be handed £100 fines, but from Doncaster council.

The move comes as senior councillors have outsourced the service to a third party in an effort to improve enforcement.

Members of North East Lincolnshire Council’s cabinet approved the new agreement today.

It means that fines will be issued by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council on a two-year trial.

The council decided to look for a new provider for the service back in February.

A report to councillors at the time showed that the number of penalty charge notices in the authority area had dropped from 27 in 2012-13 to just two in 2017-18.

It is an offence under law to not clean up dog mess in a public place and the current fine imposed by North East Lincolnshire Council is £50.

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council offices. Picture: Doncaster council.

But the new agreement will see fines increased to £100.

The council said it will burden no costs as a result of the partnership and will receive £17 for every fine made.

It added that the increase in fines needed to be made to make the scheme financially viable.

Meanwhile, Doncaster council will foot the bill for legal and staffing costs, as well as processing the fixed penalty notices.

Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Councillor Ray Oxby.

Council leader, Ray Oxby, said that the problem is at the top of the authority’s list of issues to tackle.

“Littering and dog fouling is a number one priority,” he said.

“We are using a model that is proven to work and has very little cost to the council.

“We are confident that it will make the streets of the borough cleaner.”

Meanwhile, Councillor David Bolton, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said the plan had been a “long time coming”.

“We are targeting the litter louts and dog fouling,” he said.

“I think it is a great initiative and it will clean up our streets which is what we need to do.”

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