Enforcement Policy, October 2024
The scope of enforcement
The council has a wide range of enforcement powers and responsibilities for ensuring that legal requirements are met.
Enforcement responsibilities include:
- Public Protection (Environmental Health, Anti-Social Behaviour, Trading Standards and Licensing)
- Planning
- Building Control
- Environmental Enforcement
- Parking
- Highways
- Waste
- Internal Audit
- Private Sector Housing
- council housing
- Education Welfare
- Health and Safety
- any other services which may undertake enforcement.
Enforcement action
The council recognises that most individuals and businesses want to comply with the law. It will assist and advise where this is considered possible and appropriate, but will consider taking enforcement action against those who disregard legal requirements or act irresponsibly.
Enforcement action does not always have to mean taking formal action, such as prosecution, but includes the following outcomes:
- inspection of premises
- imposition of condition on a licence
- compliance advice, verbal warnings and requests for action
- formal warning
- Community Protection Warning (CPW) - a formal written warning that a person is causing detriment to an area before the decision to issue a CPN
- Community Protection Notice (CPN) - issued after CPW and can be used to deal with all types of anti-social behaviour along with a fine for breach
- Statutory Notice
- Fixed Penalty Notice
- simple caution - as an alternative to prosecution for less serious offences where a person admits the offence and consents to a simple caution
- prosecution - for serious or recurrent breaches and where action has failed to secure compliance
- works in default
- injunction - a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing a particular activity
- Order, for example, Criminal Behaviour Orders
- other formal action, for example: seizure, possession proceedings, recovery action, suspension or revocation of licences, vehicles or permissions. Any money connected with an offence can be recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002