Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sentences in deterring fly-tipping; and when the penalties for fly-tipping will next be reviewed.

The Government is committed to tackling fly-tipping. The maximum penalty on prosecution for fly-tipping is imprisonment of up to five years or a potentially unlimited fine. Defra has worked with the Sentencing Council to strengthen guidelines for environmental offences in 2014. I am raising this with colleagues at the Ministry of Justice and to also ensure sentencing levels act as an effective deterrent.