Harrow Council’s environmental enforcement partner had to apologise after a five-year girl was slapped with a £1,000 fly-tipping fine.
Last November, APCOA sent a fixed penalty notice (FPN) letter through the post accusing the girl of fly-tipping as she was apparently witnessed by a uniformed officer, causing a great deal of distress to the family.
However, it later transpired the fine, which has since been rescinded, was issued solely on the basis of a parcel bearing the child’s name found on a nearby street and APCOA used the name and delivery address inscribed on the parcel as correspondence details to issue the FPN.
Before the fine was eventually rescinded, the father said: “I am seriously concerned about the financial impact of this fine and it causing my daughter undue stress for her age.”
Her father explained parcels are not always delivered to their door, and its not uncommon for delivery couriers to just dump parcels anywhere in a bid to meet hourly delivery targets.
He further clarified that they live in a big block of flats where the communal bins regularly go unemptied and overflow.
This means parcels often end up going adrift, usually on the other side of the road or on nearby streets. This can often set the scene for what perhaps looks like fly-tipping.
The girl’s father, who wishes to remain anonymous, was outraged by what was a clear misunderstanding and got onto the council’s case immediately.
Initially he tried to appeal online through the council’s website to no avail and sent a number of emails to the council, all of which bounced.
He then rang the council and waited 40 minutes to get through to someone only to be told that nothing could be done.
He then attended a council advice session held at Harrow library but was told to try phoning them or do it online.
Having already exhausted these avenues, the family felt that they were back to square one.
Two weeks later, the enforcement team delivered a final warning threatening legal action just days before Christmas.
This second letter warned that if convicted, the maximum penalty for this offence could be a £2,500 fine with a criminal record.
With the criminal age of responsibility being ten in this country, it’s a wonder how the enforcement officers were able to arrive at this impossibility and Harrow Labour councillor, Peymana Assad, described as part of an overall systematic unresponsiveness.
It was only after the father attended a councillors’ ward surgery session that progress was finally made, where Cllr Stephen Hickman condemned the council’s hesitancy and inertia over the matter.
Cllr Hickman said: “Charging a child is ridiculous and the process has been very stressful for their father.”
Shortly afterwards, the fine was rescinded.
Pritesh Patel, councillor responsible for cleaner streets and public safety, reaffirmed this position at a council scrutiny committee meeting on 7 January, ruling that it was never official council policy to fine children.
Harrow Council leader Cllr Paul Osborn said: “I’d like to find a child who could afford to pay a £1,000 fine at five years old.
“Obviously that is totally unacceptable.”
This incident could see Harrow Council terminate its contract with APCOA but the council’s managing director, Alex Dewsnap, was hesitant to go into too much detail whilst talks are still ongoing.
APCOA have since apologised, both to the family of the five-year old girl and to Harrow Council for any reputational damage brought on them.
They hope that they can continue to work with Harrow Council to meet future contractual obligations.
An APCOA spokesperson said: “The Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) resulted from an investigation of waste that had been fly-tipped, the age of the individual was not known.
“However, the FPN should have been cancelled on appeal.
“APCOA has already contacted the family concerned to apologise and confirm that the FPN has been cancelled.
“We have also taken steps to avoid a similar situation recurring as this case has not met our usual high standards of service.”
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