Ealing Council will look for a new firm to issue litter fines when APCOA's contract ends in June 2027. Cabinet agreed the plan on 4 November, and turned down Greener Ealing.

Ealing Council will look for a new company to run its street litter patrols. The current contract, held by APCOA Parking Ltd, ends on 30 June 2027.

Cabinet agreed on Wednesday 4 November to run a fresh tender, according to the draft minutes. The new contract will run for three years, with the option of two one-year extensions.

What the patrols do and what they bring in

Uniformed officers working for the contractor patrol the borough and issue fines for littering and other environmental offences. Ealing leads a joint contract with Hounslow Council.

The Cabinet report says:

  • the current contract brings the council about £30,000 a month
  • the council expects £714,000 in income from Environmental Protection Act fines this year
  • letting the contract lapse would leave a hole in the budget as well as ending the service

Why not Greener Ealing, or doing it in-house

Cabinet looked at four options and turned down three:

  • Letting the contract lapse. The council’s own Envirocrime Prevention Team has no uniforms and no capacity for litter patrols, the report says.
  • Extending APCOA’s deal. The contract allows two one-year extensions, but the council wants to try “different business models” that would change it.
  • Handing it to Greener Ealing. The council-owned company already enforces parking, but litter work is “inherently different”, the report says. It would need new legal expertise and back-office support, and a “significant up-front investment” from the council.

That left a new procurement under the Procurement Act 2023. An assistant director will award the contract once bids are assessed. Staff on the current contract are likely to move to any new firm under TUPE rules.

The report links the decision to the council’s “Your Voice Your Town” engagement. Five of the borough’s seven town centres chose a “green and pleasant environment” as their top priority. The Council Plan 2026-2030 also promises more “uniformed street enforcement officers”.

The rest of Wednesday’s Cabinet

Cabinet also:

  • noted a forecast overspend of £739,000 for the year and approved £170,000 for a study into rebuilding North Acton station (our budget story has the detail)
  • accepted the Jobs Guarantee grant for paid placements for 562 young people (see our Jobs Guarantee story)
  • agreed to tender maintenance contracts for heating, electrical and other equipment in council buildings, for up to five years
  • approved its annual policy on covert surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The RIPA report says the council made no applications for covert surveillance between April 2025 and March 2026.

The minutes mark the budget, Jobs Guarantee and litter decisions as subject to call-in, so councillors can still ask for them to be reviewed before they take effect. The heating and electrical contracts are marked the same way.

What it means for you

  • Litter fines carry on as now. APCOA’s officers keep patrolling until the contract ends in June 2027.
  • The firm may change, but the council says the aim is more uniformed officers on the streets, not fewer.
  • Our bin collection days page has your street’s collection day.

Sources