Contract could end after girl, 5, fined £1,000

APCOA has been the enforcement partner for Harrow Council since July

A council has threatened to terminate a contract with one of its environmental enforcement teams after a five-year-old girl was issued with a fly tipping penalty notice of £1,000.

Harrow Council later rescinded the notice given by APCOA enforcement officers and shared concerns about their conduct when issuing fixed penalty notices.

The council in north-west London is in a tri-borough contract agreement with Hounslow and Ealing councils, which have shared different concerns about the company.

APCOA has apologised to the family of the child and said it took the concerns very seriously.

A fixed penalty notice was issued to a five-year-old girl in November

The child was sent a fixed penalty notice (FPN) on 20 November, which claimed she was "witnessed by a uniformed officer… committing the offence of fly-tipping".

However, it later transpired that parcel packaging with her name on it was found on a street away from her home address.

The girl's father described issuing FPNs to children as "absurd" and blamed the packaging ending up on the street on the "overfilled communal bins" at his block of flats.

The five-year-old received a "final reminder" letter addressed to her from the enforcement team on 5 December, advising her that they were "about to instruct the council's legal team to start court proceedings" against her.

The letter warned that a conviction "carries a maximum penalty of £2,500".

'Very disappointed'

APCOA has issued 2,756 fixed penalty notices for a range of environmental offences, according to Harrow Council.

Labour councillor Peymana Assad raised concerns about what she described as systematic unresponsiveness towards some residents issued with fly-tipping penalty charges.

In response, Conservative councillor Paul Osborn said it had been made "very clear" to the company that its current actions were not acceptable and "if they continue on their path we will seek to terminate the relationship with them".

He added he had been "very disappointed" to learn APCOA did not follow the correct protocol in the case of the five-year-old girl.

A spokesperson for the agency said: "Significant progress has been made in recruitment, training, and operational performance across the three boroughs."

They added APCOA sincerely apologised for the reputational impact on Harrow Council and would continue to work closely with the councils to meet contractual expectations.