Council (Liverpool City Council) 22nd November 2023 Part 3 of 4 (Put an end to Litterpool)

Council (Liverpool City Council) 22nd November 2023 Part 3 of 4 (Put an end to Litterpool)

Filmed by John Brace https://johnbrace.com/ at Council Chamber, Ground Floor, Liverpool Town Hall, High Street, Liverpool, L2 3SW

Council Chamber, Ground Floor, Liverpool Town Hall, High Street, Liverpool, L2 3SW

The agenda and reports for this public meeting can be found on Liverpool City Council’s website here https://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=305&MId=20414 .

Continues from Council (Liverpool City Council) 22nd November 2023 Part 2 of 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7gYNMoeL4o .

11. Liverpool Citizens Climate Jury by Councillor Liam Robinson, seconded by Councillors Lena Simic and Laura Robertson-Collins 0:00

Council notes that Climate change and the emergency it has caused is an existential threat to our city, our region and ultimately our planet. Council notes the city’s declaration to be net zero by 2030 and the city region’s commitment to be net zero by 2040. Council notes the progress made to achieve these targets thus far including:

• Installation of the largest number of Electric Vehicle Charging points in the Liverpool City Region;
• The roll out and successful usage of the E-Scooter Trial and E-Bikes;
• Roll out and implementation of cycling infrastructure in the city centre and pop up installations on key routes;
• Working with the city region significant improvements to the public transport network with the new fleet of electric Merseyrail trains and the moves to reregulate the bus network with zero emission buses and fares cut to £2; and
• Our moves to increase biodiversity in the City with innovative projects including Scouse Flowerhouse, Urban Green UP and the opening of the new Southern Grasslands park.

However Council equally acknowledges the amount of work that still lies ahead and is particularly concerned with the increases in temperature and extreme weather that have been witnessed in recent years. Equally council is alarmed at the Conservative Government back tracking on it’s previous Net Zero Commitments.

Council believes it is vital that our plans and proposed actions are shaped and thus supported by our residents in the city who ultimately we all serve. Engagement with Stakeholders and key partner organisations is also an important part of this process. Due to this, Council thus instructs the Chief Executive and Officers to convene a Liverpool Citizens Jury of a representative sample of residents to inform recommendations to the Cabinet within the next 6 months of some of the further actions we wish to take to achieve our Net Zero
ambitions by 2030.

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MOTION SUBMITTED BY MAIN OPPOSITION

(A period of 20 minutes has been allocated for the debate)

12. Put an end to Litterpool by Councillor Carl Cashman 12:11

Council notes that:
• In recent years, the state of the public realm in Liverpool has declined and this has earned it the reputation of “Litterpool” in the media;
• The number of fixed penalty notices for littering issued by Liverpool City Council has fallen dramatically in recent years from the thousands to now being in the tens; and
• Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Council has a statutory duty to ensure that land is, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse.

Council believes that:
• Everyone deserves to live in a litter free area, and we all have a personal responsibility to dispose of our rubbish properly;
• Litter and rubbish not only make our City untidy and dirty but has negative environmental impact on our waterways, green spaces and local wildlife;
• The hard work of volunteer groups across the city is making a positive impact on cleaning up the public realm but cleaning up our City should not be left to volunteers;
• At present, the current punishments and enforcement regimes against littering and fly-tipping are not strong enough to act as an effective deterrent;
• It is time to take action and clean up the public realm, restoring civic pride and putting an end Liverpool’s reputation as “Litterpool”.

Council resolves to:
• Arrange a meeting between the Council Leadership and Street Scene to address the several pieces of casework not being picked up and actioned;
• Endorse Clean up Britain’s and In Your Area’s “Don’t Trash our Future” campaign;
• Write to the Government to encourage them to change the law, so that:

1. The minimum punishment for a fixed penalty notice for fly tipping in the UK is increased to £1,000 or 100 hours of supervised community litter pick;
2. Local Authorities have a statutory duty to properly enforce laws against littering;
3. There are harsher punishments against fly-tippers, such as larger fines;
and
4. Local authorities, who do the work of finding and issuing fixed penalty notices, retain at least 50% of fines.
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Continues at Council (Liverpool City Council) 22nd November 2023 Part 4 of 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RfdylsB3LM .