Fly-tipping

Opened the debate

I am concerned about the prevalence of fly-tipping in Croydon and across England, with around 3,000 incidents daily costing local authorities up to £58 million annually. The number of large fly-tips has increased by 13% over the past two years. Fly-tipping is a public health hazard attracting rats and vermin, damaging local economies, and affecting people's sense of wellbeing and community pride.

Government Response

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Paisley. I thank the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones) for tabling this important debate. Local authorities reported more than a million fly-tipping instances in 2022-23 and over 80% of farmers say that they have been affected by fly-tipping on their land. The estimated cost of fly-tipping to the UK was £392 million in 2018-19. In March last year, the Prime Minister published the antisocial behaviour action plan, which sets out steps to deter people from fly-tipping and punish those who have done so. We increased the maximum penalty councils can issue for fly-tipping from £400 to £1,000 in July. We also increased the penalty for householders who gave waste to a fly-tipper from £400 to £600. From 1 April, income received from penalties will be ringfenced in law to improve and expand enforcement capability, and clean up mess from fly-tippers. Local authorities will be able to use these funds to support their efforts against fly-tipping. We have also increased scrutiny of how councils are using those powers through the publication of our fly-tipping enforcement league tables. We are funding councils across the country to directly intervene at fly-tipping hotspots with £1.2 million awarded to help more than 30 councils. Many councils are installing CCTV in hotspot areas, and others use funds to place physical barriers such as fencing in those areas. For example, Durham County Council has reduced fly-tipping by over 60% where CCTV was installed on existing lighting columns, and Dover District Council has seen a 100% reduction at hotspots where beautification measures were installed. We have pledged £1 million of further support for local authorities to help even more councils deal with this issue. Through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we work with stakeholders such as the National Farmers Union and the Country Land and Business Association to promote good practice on preventing fly-tipping on private land. Citizens have a vital role in tackling fly-tipping, which involves household waste nearly two thirds of the time. We banned charges for household do-it-yourself waste at local household waste and recycling centres, enabling householders to take DIY waste there free of charge. Householders must check the register of waste carriers to avoid giving their waste to illegal man-and-van operators who promise quick, cheap waste collection but only go to dump it on private property or streets. We have also worked with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group and communications experts within government to produce tools to help councils and others raise awareness about household and business waste duty of care. Our upcoming reforms will make it easier for regulators to identify where waste is mishandled and take action.