Kingdom come… to neighbourhoods!

TACKLING litter in suburbs and educating people not to drop rubbish will be the focus of a new environmental campaign in Liverpool.

It follows a review of the Council's contract with enforcement firm Kingdom, which has been in place since 2017.

With immediate effect, Kingdom's 16 strong team will place less emphasis on the City Centre, with significantly greater activity in neighbourhoods and with more of a focus on tackling dog fouling as well as litter.

A series of road shows will also be held in:- Kensington, Toxteth, Tuebrook, West Derby, Anfield, Everton, Speke and Walton to educate people about the impact of littering, including the financial implications for Council Taxpayers.

There will also be an emphasis on providing a solution to the ongoing issue of dumping in alleyways.

Mayor Joe Anderson said:- "People tell me constantly that they want us to do more to keep the streets clean. Enforcement is 1 way of doing that, but I also want more of a focus on education to show people the consequences of their actions. Kingdom have been instructed to introduce a new approach which will be focused around education as well as enforcement, with the aim of changing the attitude of the minority who think it is acceptable to drop litter in neighbourhoods, and catching dog owners who don't clean up after their animals. Together, we need to change the culture and adopt a 0 tolerance attitude to littering our streets and needlessly using up the Council's increasingly scarce resources."

In 2017/18, Liverpool spent ₤9.5 million on street cleansing, equivalent to ₤20 per resident. In addition, there were 13,654 reports of flytyipping and dumping, which cost Council Tax payers a further ₤1.5 million to clean up.

Councillor James Noakes, newly appointed Cabinet member for City Services, said:- "Much of Kingdom's work to date has been done in the City Centre, and the time is right to now focus on some of the neighbourhoods where people think they can drop litter and leave it to someone else to clear up. People are rightly asking what we are doing about tackling litter in their community. We have listened to this feedback and as well as giving out fines where appropriate, we want Kingdom staff to do more informing and engagement with the public. This includes explaining how the money raised from fines is ploughed back in to keeping the streets clean and tackling endemic issues like flytipping and dumping which blight some neighbourhoods."

In the last 12 months, almost 30,000 fixed penalty notices were issued; 60% of them in the City Centre; generating ₤350,000 of vital income for the Council which has been reinvested in additional street cleansing, removal of flytipping and cleansing of alleyways.

It has also funded a ₤20,000 environmental initiative fund, with grants given to community organisations to deliver the likes of litter picking in parks and green spaces, greening and planting projects for grot spots and other enhancements.

Delroy McGee, Regional Operations Director (North) from Kingdom said:- "Kingdom is delighted to be working in partnership with Liverpool City Council, helping them to achieve cleaner streets for residents and visitors to the City."

The work is part of a wider crackdown on environmental crime which has seen a doubling in the number of staff tackling flytipping and cleaning alleyways, with 4 new teams working 7 days a week.

NHS trust highlights how their 'Dietitians Do Prevention'

DIETITIANS from North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, are supporting Dietitians Week 2018, that runs from 4 June to 8 June 2018, by highlighting all the fantastic work they do to prevent illness or optimise health.

On Tuesday, 5 June 2018, from 2 to 4pm, the Trust will also be hosting a live question and answer session on Twitter, to give members of the public the chance to get advice from our qualified dietitians. To get involved, follow the Twitter account:- NWBoroughsNHS or use the hashtag:- '#askadietitianNWBH'

The registered dietitians will be sharing a raft of information throughout the week, which will be tailored to each of the different themes:-

► 4 June 2018 – Mental health and recovery.

► 5 June 2018 – Rehab and reablement.

► 6 June 2018 – Public health and primary prevention.

► 7 June 2018 – Optimising health and secondary prevention.

► 8 June 2018 – Health conversations and making every contact count.

The Trust has a large team of community dietitians who work across a wide range of areas including:- weight management, paediatrics, home enteral feeding, oral nutrition support, inpatient mental health, eating disorders and general diet and disease related illnesses.

Linda Cantwell, Registered Dietitian and Advanced Practitioner at North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said:- "Registered dietitians are qualified health professionals that assess, diagnose and treat diet and nutrition problems at an individual and wider public health level. Uniquely, dietitians use the most up to date public health and scientific research on food, health and disease, which they translate into practical guidance to enable people to make appropriate lifestyle and food choices."

To find out more about what dietitians do and Dietitians Week, visit:- BDA.UK.Com or follow:- @BDA_Dietitians on Twitter, using the hashtag:- '#DietitiansWeek'