Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make representations to the Sentencing Council requesting it to ensure that the strictest possible sentences are given to fly-tippers.

The Government is concerned by the damage to the environment that fly-tipping and other unlawful deposits of waste can cause. That is why it we have provided law enforcement agencies and the courts with powers to deal with such offending.

In regard to sentencing, the independent Sentencing Council conducted a consultation on environmental offences in 2013 and has issued a sentencing guideline for environmental offences which will take effect on 1 July 2014. Judges and magistrates are required to follow the guidelines unless it would not be in the interests of justice to do so.