Unemployed and been issued a Fixed Penalty Notice - What do I do ?

Hi folks, I didn't know how else to get advice so I've come on here to find out what I should do.

I am unfortunately claiming benefits due to being unemployed and I live with a family member who is the house owner.

I had signed on at my local job center a fortnight back and upon coming out decided to have a cigarette where normally people sit down and smoke before entering the building or leaving it. On this particular day I had witnessed two others smoking where I had chosen to stand and smoke. They too discarded their cig butts where I did, in a patch of soil surrounded by bricks enclosing some bushy shrubs. There were hundreds of butts in there I recall.

I was preyed upon by two Environmental Enforcement Officers and issued the Fixed Penalty Notice but not before obtaining my ID, which I happily gave as I didn't want to cause a fuss.

I did inform them that I was unemployed and surviving on benefits and that what I had done was a one off and that I don't normally do this, but they simply told me to call a number on the FPN slip they handed out.

I never throw litter in public, quite the contrary. If I have litter on me I either keep it or find the nearest bin to discard it in. On this occasion I had a cigarette and did what countless others do outside this job center, discard it into that cig infested enclosure. Out of the corner behind a wall, appeared two environmental enforcement officers who informed me they had me on camera doing this.

Long story short, I believe this fine is unfair given that I have in the past, commuted on public transport and witnessed people leave their litter on seats and on many an occasion seen littering culprits getting away with far worse in broad daylight.

I have tried contacting my local authority but theyve made it next to impossible for citizens to speak to anyone regarding something like this. To compound the problem I have little over a week before my FPN deadline arrives and if its not paid by that date I may be summoned into court.

The issue is I'm hand to mouth and very stressed out and bothered by this and wish for some undrestanding and clemenancy to be shown. I barely survive on benefits and on top of this I'm aggressively job hunting and trying to nail a full time job!

will they allow me to pay in installments ? will the job center offer any extra assistance in this matter ? I am at loss as to knowing what to do here folks. Help me please ?

Well you're being pulled up for littering which you absolutely did do, your personal finances or lack thereof is really your problem, It's not really something you can demand they turn a blind eye to, even if you claim you've seen other people doing it.

If you want to try and negotiate a payment plan based on your low income you'll need to plug away at them and they may refuse but you need to drop the entitled attitude of 'I never litter in public!' when you were caught doing just that as it will just annoy them.

By your school of thought, if a child is starving to death and crying because its mother cannot provide and nourish for it, then it is their problem not mine nor yours.

What a disgusting self centered approach to life you have.

Yes it's my problem that I am in the situation that I am. It does not mean that a problem shared is not a problem halved. The whole point of our existence is to 'co-exist' and help one another in our hour of need.

We are social creatures by nature and most of us, i'd like to think have good hearts.

Clearly your school of thought and mindset is towing the line of 'i have bread - you have nothing'

I wish you the best in life despite your wicked ways. Well done to you. You are an exemplary human being. We need more like you. We really do. And more predatory 'Environmental Enforecment Officers' who take money from unemployed people coming out of job centers... * applauds those types too *

By your school of thought, if a child is starving to death and crying because its mother cannot provide and nourish for it, then it is their problem not mine nor yours.

What a disgusting self centered approach to life you have.

Yes it's my problem that I am in the situation that I am. It does not mean that a problem shared is not a problem halved. The whole point of our existence is to 'co-exist' and help one another in our hour of need.

We are social creatures by nature and most of us, i'd like to think have good hearts.

Clearly your school of thought and mindset is towing the line of 'i have bread - you have nothing'

I wish you the best in life despite your wicked ways. Well done to you. You are an exemplary human being. We need more like you. We really do. And more predatory 'Environmental Enforecment Officers' who take money from unemployed people coming out of job centers... * applauds those types too *

Hi folks, I didn't know how else to get advice so I've come on here to find out what I should do.

I am unfortunately claiming benefits due to being unemployed and I live with a family member who is the house owner.

I had signed on at my local job center a fortnight back and upon coming out decided to have a cigarette where normally people sit down and smoke before entering the building or leaving it. On this particular day I had witnessed two others smoking where I had chosen to stand and smoke. They too discarded their cig butts where I did, in a patch of soil surrounded by bricks enclosing some bushy shrubs. There were hundreds of butts in there I recall.

I was preyed upon by two Environmental Enforcement Officers and issued the Fixed Penalty Notice but not before obtaining my ID, which I happily gave as I didn't want to cause a fuss.

I did inform them that I was unemployed and surviving on benefits and that what I had done was a one off and that I don't normally do this, but they simply told me to call a number on the FPN slip they handed out.

I never throw litter in public, quite the contrary. If I have litter on me I either keep it or find the nearest bin to discard it in. On this occasion I had a cigarette and did what countless others do outside this job center, discard it into that cig infested enclosure. Out of the corner behind a wall, appeared two environmental enforcement officers who informed me they had me on camera doing this.

Long story short, I believe this fine is unfair given that I have in the past, commuted on public transport and witnessed people leave their litter on seats and on many an occasion seen littering culprits getting away with far worse in broad daylight.

I have tried contacting my local authority but theyve made it next to impossible for citizens to speak to anyone regarding something like this. To compound the problem I have little over a week before my FPN deadline arrives and if its not paid by that date I may be summoned into court.

The issue is I'm hand to mouth and very stressed out and bothered by this and wish for some undrestanding and clemenancy to be shown. I barely survive on benefits and on top of this I'm aggressively job hunting and trying to nail a full time job!

will they allow me to pay in installments ? will the job center offer any extra assistance in this matter ? I am at loss as to knowing what to do here folks. Help me please ?

By your school of thought, if a child is starving to death and crying because its mother cannot provide and nourish for it, then it is their problem not mine nor yours.

What a disgusting self centered approach to life you have.

By your school of thought, if a child is starving to death and crying because its mother cannot provide and nourish for it, then it is their problem not mine nor yours.

What a disgusting self centered approach to life you have.

Yes it's my problem that I am in the situation that I am. It does not mean that a problem shared is not a problem halved. The whole point of our existence is to 'co-exist' and help one another in our hour of need.

We are social creatures by nature and most of us, i'd like to think have good hearts.

Clearly your school of thought and mindset is towing the line of 'i have bread - you have nothing'

I wish you the best in life despite your wicked ways. Well done to you. You are an exemplary human being. We need more like you. We really do. And more predatory 'Environmental Enforecment Officers' who take money from unemployed people coming out of job centers... * applauds those types too *

By your school of thought, if a child is starving to death and crying because its mother cannot provide and nourish for it, then it is their problem not mine nor yours.

What a disgusting self centered approach to life you have.

Yes it's my problem that I am in the situation that I am. It does not mean that a problem shared is not a problem halved. The whole point of our existence is to 'co-exist' and help one another in our hour of need.

We are social creatures by nature and most of us, i'd like to think have good hearts.

Clearly your school of thought and mindset is towing the line of 'i have bread - you have nothing'

I wish you the best in life despite your wicked ways. Well done to you. You are an exemplary human being. We need more like you. We really do. And more predatory 'Environmental Enforecment Officers' who take money from unemployed people coming out of job centers... * applauds those types too *

I would persist in trying to reach the authority that issued the notice. Provide evidence that you are on benefits and offer to establish a payment plan, even if it's a couple of quid a week or whatever.

Is there an email address on the notice?

Whilst I feel sorry for you and hope that you can negotiate a payment plan, you did it, and although you say you wouldn't normally, your only regret seems to be that you have got caught when others have got away with it! @StriderHort does not have " wicked ways" he is quite rightly pointing out the fact that you are quite happy to litter an area because it's already dirty. So where is the cutoff point? If there are less than 2 cigarette ends on the floor we don't add to them, but from 5 upwards a garden can be considered a public open air refuge center. It's not because some people behave like pigs and get away with it, that you can as well. And the wardens were not being devious,they were just doing their jobs!!
I don't think you should be let off the fine, but I hope you can pay over a fixed time period and that this serves as a lesson. Cigarette ends take years to disappear. If you must smoke then do it responsibly, and if you stopped, you'd have more money and wouldn't get fined for this kind of behaviour!

Tosh

Not really. If there was one I'd have tried to send an email, they have a physical address you can write to but its been 13 days since I got issued it and tomorrow will be the 14th day.

Out of interest, they say it should be settled within 14 days so that you only pay the default amount. Tomorrow will be the 14th day since I got issued the FPN. Does it means ive fallen outside of the 14 day grace period or can I still pay the default amount ?

Sugar coating all of this scandalous art of taking money from the poor to feed the rich under the guise of 'stop littering! don't harm the environment!' won't fool me or essentially the billions worldwide who see past the b/s of it all, which evidently you don't want me to. You make a valid point about the littering aspect but your focal point seems to be entirely on that and nothing else. You are happy for this mechanism of taking money out of broke/poor peoples pockets to feed private shady crooks to keep working and flourishing and this is deplorable.

My focal point of this is the dark motives behind issuing FPNS and where the money goes, which is into the hands of rotten individuals I'd imagine.

Take it from me in writing, the money from FPN's is NOT going towards a positive goal. Its simply being taken by a corrupt Local Authority so it can fund some crooks, nothing more nothing less. I say 'crooks' because the demeanor, the approach and the actions of those so called 'Environmental Enforcement Officers' was a farce, and highly unprofessional. Hiding, filming and then sneaking up on someone is not professional nor is it praiseworthy behavior.

I staunchly defend what I have said regarding @StriderHort's 'wicked ways'.

His school of thought is not the one I wish to harbor or champion to future generations of kids, its the unpleasant outdated draconian school of thought which quite frankly deserves the two fingers and fcuk you response. Thank the heavens todays youth are more awake than ever about the corrupted system around us. For starters, we're still tackling the age old problem of racism in 2021 never mind saving the planet. The system is governed and controlled by powerful, wealthy racist old men and women who quite frankly have no regard for todays youth. These people are being served well by the likes of @StriderHort who fiercely defended the art of taking money out of broke/poor peoples pockets to fund those types. He champions the cause of wealthy racist old men and women because most likely, he is of that same ilk. @StriderHort's belief system is flawed and outdated, his wicked ways are not ways I shall adopt. ever.

If you can afford the cigarettes you can afford the fine!And turning the argument into an anti establishment diatribe to get away from the fact that O.P was complaining beforehand that people on buses can litter but poor him has to pay is just juvenile.

Jesus Christ.