Fly-tipping penalties fall despite rise in incidents

Fly-tipping fines have dropped despite 20,000 more cases of rubbish dumped on streets and countryside.

Data for England shows there were 976,000 incidents of illegal waste dumping dealt with by local authorities in 2019-20, up two per cent on the previous year, but that the number of fixed-penalty fines given out by councils to punish offenders fell from 77,000 to 75,400.

Cross-party group the District Councils' Network said that rural communities were increasingly being blighted by the practice, with the number of fly-tipping incidents on agricultural spots rising by 80 per cent from 888 in 2012-13 to 1,600 in 2019-20, according to the data published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).

Councillor Dan Humphreys, the DCN's lead member for enhancing quality of life, said that criminals were becoming savvier about not leaving behind identifying information, which could be contributing to the fall in notices.

“We are beginning to see a possible trend where people are being more careful not to leave any evidence in the fly-tips which makes it harder for councils to catch offenders," he said.

Campaigners have have also argued that underfunding makes it more difficult for local authorities and national agencies to carry out their duties, including enforcing environmental crime.

While fixed-penalty notices fell, less common and more serious court-ordered fines rose from 2,056 to 2,671, a 30 per cent rise.

The statistics do not take into account the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which led to further waste disposal problems and soaring levels of fly tipping, as they cover only the first week of the first lockdown, imposed on March 23 last year.

But surveying of councils by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (Adept) in the past year show many have seen higher levels of fly-tipping.

The official data shows that even before the pandemic, fly-tipping of household rubbish was on the rise, with 632,000 incidents in 2019/20 - up 7 per cent from 588,000 cases in 2018/19.

Household rubbish accounts for nearly two-thirds of the waste illegally dumped, while fly-tipping most commonly occurs on pavements or roads, making up 43 per cent of incidents.