After over a decade of our campaigning, Defra has released new statutory guidance on litter enforcement powers. The guidance, which came into force in April 2026, was the subject of a Guardian exclusive.
This is the statutory guidance we have been seeking. It is not perfect and could have gone further, but it contains several provisions that – if enforced – should put an end to the worst practices of the private enforcement industry. Here are the key gains.
1. Private firms must not profit from increasing the volume of fines.
This is the crucial provision. For years, the standard model has been for private companies to be paid per fine issued, giving them a direct financial incentive to fine as many people as possible. The guidance now states:
Where external contractors are used, private firms should not be able to receive greater revenue or profits just from increasing the volume of penalties. This would conflict with the overall aim of reducing the number of offences committed. (16.16)
2. Enforcement staff must not be rewarded based on the number of fines issued.
This tackles the bonus culture exposed by a BBC Panorama investigation we collaborated with, where private enforcement officers boasted of handing out fines ‘like Smarties’ and receiving bonuses of up to £1,000 a month for hitting targets. The guidance states:
Performance management of enforcement staff, including rewards or penalties, should never be based on: the volume of penalties issued; a fixed amount of revenue to be raised. (16.14)
3. Enforcement must never be used to raise revenue.
The guidance is blunt:
Enforcement activity should never be considered as a way to generate income. This could undermine the legitimacy of enforcement and make it less effective at discouraging littering. (3.1)
4. Councils must publish their contracts with private companies.
This is a significant new transparency requirement. Until now, many councils have hidden behind commercial confidentiality clauses to avoid disclosing the terms of their enforcement contracts. The guidance states:
When using external contractors, the council should publish the full text of any contracts or legal agreements. This provides additional scrutiny and reassurance that such contracts are not being used as a revenue raiser. (16.4)
5. Councils should publish detailed enforcement data.
The guidance sets out a list of information that councils should publish about their enforcement activity, including:
- number of FPNs and civil penalty notices issued
- number cancelled
- number paid, and number paid at discount rate
- number of prosecutions following non-payment
- number of prosecutions for litter offences for which an FPN was not offered
- number of civil penalty notices cancelled following appeal
- number of civil penalty notices pursued as civil debts
- total net income from FPNs and civil penalty notices
- an estimate of spend on enforcement activity
This will make it far harder for councils to hide what is going on. (16.3)
This guidance is statutory – meaning all litter authorities in England must have regard to it when using their enforcement powers. It replaces the previous non-statutory guidance, which contained similar language but was widely ignored. The question now is whether this guidance will be enforced. We will be surveying councils over the coming months to find out. If your council is still operating a fining-for-profit arrangement, get in touch.