City wants to give free council tax to people who film dog foulers
People who take photos of dog owners leaving mess on the streets may escape council tax for a year under proposals in Liverpool.
Saturday 18 February 2017 14:57, UK
People in Liverpool could be allowed to escape paying council tax if they catch dog owners who do not pick up their pet's mess.
Mayor Joe Anderson has said the idea could help clean up the city's streets - and he has suggested a resident could get free council tax for a year if they filmed videos or took photos which helped identify irresponsible dog owners, as well as fly-tippers and litterbugs.
Mr Anderson said: "Can we reward those residents that let us know who is fly-tipping, whose dogs are fouling our streets and or are not recycling properly?
"Should we look at making it compulsory to recycle?
"We need to look seriously at these measures and more to encourage and reward civic pride.
"I have asked officers to come up with a series of enforcement measures that we can use to drive the required change in behaviour in those residents that fail to responsibly manage their waste."
Liverpool Greens leader Tom Crone said the policy could be problematic: "It could be very costly at a time when there is immense pressure on council finances.
"It also turns residents against residents and this is an unhealthy precedent to set. The relevant authorities should take responsibility for enforcing laws."
Renate Samson, chief executive of Big Brother Watch, she said: "I'm not convinced that encouraging people to spy, monitor, track and follow our neighbours, because they're conducting themselves in a less than proper way, is the right way to go about it.
"I think we can improve civic pride and community spirit in a far less intrusive fashion."
The proposals come just days after Sky News reported that councils across England and Wales are set to announce inflation-busting council tax rises.
Some 94% of council leaders and senior officials questioned for a survey said they would be forced to put up taxes and increase charging for services.
Many households face rises of up to 5%, but several authorities have ditched plans for increases which would have seen them forced to hold public votes, research has found.
Nearly all councils in England and Wales that took part in the research are planning to increase council tax by more than 1.5%, according to the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU).
In a survey of council decision-makers, more than 10% said they would not have enough funding to meet their legal obligations this year - and 42% said they expected to impose cuts that would be noticeable to residents.