Councils demand tougher sentences for fly-tippers as incidents rise 40% in seven years

Councils have called for a review of sentencing guidelines for waste and fly-tipping offences, amid an almost 40% rise in incidents since 2012.

The Local Government Association said its analysis had revealed that no-one convicted of fly-tipping since the Government introduced new guidelines in 2014 had been given the maximum £50,000 fine or 12 months in prison by the courts.

This was despite fly-tipping incidents rising by 39.6% since 2012, up from 714,637 to 997,553 in 2017/18.

The LGA claimed that demand on councils’ legal duties, such as caring for elderly and disabled people, protecting children and providing homelessness support meant less money was available for discretionary powers – like issuing penalty notices for fly-tipping.

“These funding pressures mean council enforcement cannot keep up with spiralling cases of fly-tipping,” it warned, adding that the Spending Review needed to ensure councils had the funding needed to investigate and prosecute fly-tippers.

Councils took action on 494,034 incidents in 2017/18 – up by nearly 70,000 in five years.

Cllr Martin Tett, Chairman of the LGA’s Environment Board, said: “Fly-tipping is unsightly, unacceptable and inexcusable environmental vandalism.

“Councils are doing everything they can to try and deter fly-tippers. However, prosecuting them often requires time-consuming and laborious investigations, with a high threshold of proof, at a time when councils face significant budget pressures.

“Consistent and hard-hitting prosecutions are needed to deter rogue operators and fly-tippers. Councils also need adequate funding to investigate incidents and ensure fly-tippers do not go unpunished.”