Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:34 pm on 5 July 2017.
Well, I agree with the Member that this is one measure amongst others. Fixed-penalty notices are a very familiar part of the repertoire available to local authorities. They were first introduced as long ago as the 1950s. And while I understand some of the concerns that are sometimes raised about them being used as a revenue-raising tool, it’s important to note that, right across Wales, £1 million was raised by local authorities through fixed-penalty notices in dealing with low-level environmental problems of the sort that Rhianon Passmore has referred to, while the environmental cost of cleaning up litter to Welsh local authorities last year was £70 million. So, it is a relatively small contribution to dealing with the problem, and I don’t think it’s an unfair point for me to make to individuals who sometimes complain about the way that local authorities deploy fixed-penalty notices in relation to litter, dog fouling and so on, that the answer is mostly in their own hands, ‘Don’t drop litter and there’ll be no fixed-penalty notice to worry about.’