Clean Birmingham scheme branded failure and waste of money by MP.

• Mar. 5 by Phil Gordon (0)

A scheme to clean Birmingham streets which cost the council an estimated £20,000 has been branded a failure just six months in to the campaign by MP Liam Byrne.

The supposed ‘blitz’ which took place earlier this year saw 68 on the spot £60 fines dished out to members of the public by environmental wardens, unsurprisingly over half refused to pay according to Byrne.

At one point the supposed blitz also saw just 3 fines issued in one week, it was later found for each individual fine issued, it cost the campaign a ridiculous £300.

Byrne criticised the scheme in saying

” City politicians can’t blame people dropping rubbish and then fail to use the law to fine them. Handing out three penalties a week in one of the messiest parts of Birmingham tells me the council is just not taking this problem seriously”.

MP Liam Byrne is also behind the ‘Rubbish TV’ channel on youtube, raising awareness of dirty and unclean streets in his constituency. A video detailing Byrne’s criticisms of the scheme can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kriGBN9cDec

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City council has stated that Byrne was ‘incorrect to suggest that almost half the people handed fixed penalty tickets had not paid the fines’. She also added that the council had taken legal action to gain the money required when 31 members of the public had refused to pay fixed fines.

 

Original source: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/gogreen/2008/11/12/birmingham-cleaner-streets-blitz-is-branded-waste-of-money-65233-22237972/