THURROCK Council is seeking a new contracter to tackle fly-tippers and litter bugs - though reservations have been expressed about motivation of officers paid per ticket.

Thurrock's cabinet has agreed to continue an external service to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to those who damage the environment with rubbish when the current contract expires in March 2026.

The contractor will remunerated through a percentage share of income generated from FPNs issued for environmental offences. The council believes this will allow its own environmental crime officers to concentrate on large-scale fly-tipping and prosecutions.

At this week's cabinet meeting Lynda Heath, councillor responsible for public protection, constitutional and civic affairs, said: "This model has been used by the council since 2017 and has proven to be the most cost efficient and value for money model available.

"We all understand that this type of offending can blight communities and ensuring the council has the ability and the resources to enforce such matters is critical in improving our borough and ensuring residents see action being taken when others tried to ruin communities."

However, John Kent, Labour councillor for Grays Thurrock who recently stepped down as leader of the council, had reservations. He said: "I understand the need for caution and to make sure that we cover costs but I have to say that I'm a little disappointed that we haven't looked harder at an in-house bid.

"Having a service like this in-house gives us the opportunity to not only prosecute and issue fixed penalty notices but it gives us the capacity to do some education on the streets as well which is really difficult to do within within a contract."

Cllr Kent added: "There is a perception that, as this company will be paid by results by a percentage of each fixed penalty notice that they issue, they will do what we see happening all the time, which is hanging about in car parks outside supermarkets, the college across the road and issuing lots and lots of tickets for easy targets and not actually going after fly tippers."

In response, Cllr Heath said: "Resourcing limitations and recruitment difficulties mean an in-house capacity cannot meet the problem and outsourcing will allow the scalable and self-funding models to address high volume environmental offences without burdening the council's budget any further.

"The council will retain control of enforcement policies so it won't lead to excessive ticketing and fines just an increase in revenue. The contractor must follow the council's guidelines and the contract forms will be closely monitored through KPI's and monthly reviews with the management team within the service."