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| Sheffield - facing bills of £500,000 per year to clean up grafitti in the city. |
"This is money that’s being poured down the drain," Councillor Bryan Lodge, the Council’s Cabinet member for Streetscene and Green Spaces told LocalGov. "At a time when we are having to make tough decisions on spending taxpayers’ money on essential services, it is frustrating to know that there are so many services within the Council where this money could be used effectively.
"This money could pay for an extra 20 teachers in our schools or more than 30 care assistants in homes for the elderly across the city, but these mindless vandals seem determined to spoil the local environment."
The Council is now actively considering a project launched in the London Borough of Ealing where offenders were given the chance to rectify the damage they had caused by either removing it or painting it over.
Councillor Lodge added: "In Ealing young offenders were given the opportunity to pay back for their criminal damage by removing the graffiti themselves and this is a scheme we would be keen to adopt here."
"Sheffield Council works hard to clean up graffiti in its streets as part of an ongoing urban renewal programme. A website contact point called Street Force and other telephone numbers allow local people to report grafitti crimes as they happen in total confidence either through Crimestoppers or via a new Non-Emergency Number for the Sheffield Police," a spokesman told LocalGov.
