Local environment quality: Legislation and enforcement
Fixed Penalty Notices
Fixed penalties provide enforcement agencies with an effective and visible way of responding to low level environmental crimes. Government wishes to encourage their use by local authorities and other agencies including parish councils and national park authorities.
A full list of fixed penalties issued for environmental offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 is detailed in the Legislation and Enforcement section of our web site.
In this section you will find recent statistics, details on how to return your FPN data, model forms and information on use of receipts. Comprehensive guidance on all aspects of the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2005 is also available.
Statistics
Data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued by English local authorities has been collected each year since April 1997. Each spreadsheet has a separate tab for each of the different offences for which figures were recorded that year.
- April 2006 – March 2007
(1.5 MB) - April 2005 – March 2006 (249 KB)
- April 2004 – March 2005 (182 KB)
- April 2003 – March 2004 (103 KB)
- April 2002 – March 2003 (102 KB)
- April 2001 – March 2002 (133 KB)
- April 2000 – March 2001 (139 KB)
- April 1999 – March 2000 (147 KB)
- April 1998 – March 1999 (157 KB)
- April 1997 – March 1998 (157 KB)
Returns
All local authorities and any other bodies with fixed penalty notice issuing powers must submit a returns form to the Local Environmental Quality division at Defra each year, detailing all the fixed penalty notices issued for relevant offences for that period.
- Local Authority form for the period April 2006 to March 2007 (pdf version, links to Defra forms pages)
Litter, dog, graffiti, fly-posting and noise fixed penalty returns for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 - Local Authority form for the period April 2006 to March 2007
- Word file (178 KB) - Parish Council form for the period April 2006 to March 2007 (pdf version, links to Defra forms pages)
- Parish Council form for the period April 2006 to March 2007 - Word file (135 KB)
- Legislative request for information relating to Gating Orders for period April 2006 to March 2007 (pdf version, links to Defra forms pages)
- Legislative request for information relating to Gating Orders for period April 2006 to March 2007 - Word file (99 KB)
Prescribed forms
Local authorities are no longer required to use the prescribed forms for issuing fixed penalty notices for litter and dog fouling offences.
The Litter (Fixed Penalty Notices) Order 1991 and the Dog Fouling (Fixed Penalties) Order 1996 (Revocation) (England) Order 2005, SI 2005 No 3223
The above Order, made by the Secretary of State on 21st November 2005 and commenced 16th December 2005, revoked the requirement for local authorities to use the prescribed forms for issuing litter and dog fouling fixed penalty notices as set out in the Litter (Fixed Penalty Notices) Order 1991 and the Dog Fouling (Fixed Penalties) Order 1996.
This means local authorities now have the freedom to design their own fixed penalty notice forms to suit local needs. For instance, some local authorities may want to design a form which better reflects the fact that Police Community Support Officers can issue fixed penalty notices on behalf of local authorities.
Local authorities may continue to use the prescribed forms if they wish – but they are no longer obliged to do so.
Any fixed penalty notice form designed for use for litter or dog fouling offences must continue to meet the basic requirements set out under section 88(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 – the form must specify the particulars of the offence, the period during which further action will not be taken, the amount of the fine and who it may be paid to.
Model forms
The model form below is provided as an example only. There are no prescribed fixed penalty notice forms for the offences created or amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (or Regulations).
- Fixed Penalty Notice form - Word file (34 KB)
- Fixed Penalty Notice form
- PDF file (37 KB)
Receipts
Section 119 of the Local Government Act 2003 commenced on 18 November 2003, giving more flexibility to local authorities in how they use the receipts from fixed penalty notices issued for litter and dog fouling offences in order to encourage proactive management of local environments. There is a copy of Section 119 of the Local Government Act 2003 below.
The guidance note contains the procedures for local authorities which issue fixed penalty notices for litter and dog fouling offences. The guidance refers to local authorities who have gained a 'good' or 'excellent' rating on the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and those authorities who have been piloting these powers under their Local Public Service Agreements. However please note that draft regulations to allow local authorities to spend litter and dog fouling fixed penalty receipts on any function have not been laid. This is because the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, and its accompanying regulations, make provision for the spending of fixed penalty receipts, and allow high-performing local authorities to use them on any function. These provisions will be commenced on 6 April 2006.
- Letter to Local Authorities (12 KB) - November 2003
- Guidance for section 119 of the Local Government Act 2003 - Fixed Penalty Notices for Littering and Dog Fouling (27 KB)
- Section 119 of the Local Government Act 2003 (8 KB)
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Page last modified: 04 December 2007
Page published: 7 February 2006