Flyposting and stickering

Flyposting and stickering has a detrimental impact on the city. It looks unsightly and costs the council thousands of pounds to remove.

Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) are issued to those caught flyposting. For a FPN to be issued, an Environmental Enforcement Officer must witness the crime being committeed which is difficult as evidenced by the number of FPNs issued:

• 2019/20: 16
• 2020/21: 2
• 2021/22: 8

Under Section 43 of the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, Community Protection Warnings (CPWs) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs) can be issued to an individual aged 16 or over, or a body, if satisfied on reasonable grounds that: a) the conduct of the individual or body is having a detrimental effect, of a persistent or continuing nature, on the quality of life in the locality, and b) the conduct is unreasonable.

It is considered that flyposting and stickering:

• is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality: this activity is criminal and anti-social and can lead to other anti-social activities such as graffiti
• is a persistent or of a continuing nature: even after posters and stickers are removed, they do reappear meaning council resources are continually used to remove them
• is unreasonable: fly-posting and stickering is unlawful and the council has to use its limited budgets to continually pay for its removal

By issuing CPWs and CPNs to the individuals and bodies responsible for the flyposting, the council can seek to improve the cleanliness of the city as this is a much more effective way of enforcement than issuing FPNs.

This consultation is seeking your views on the introduction of CPWs and CPNs to tackle flyposting across the city.