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 potential merits of requiring the person responsible for fly-tipping, rather than the landowner, to bear the costs of clean-up.

Where fly-tippers are prosecuted, upon conviction a cost order can already be made by the court so that a landowner’s costs can be recovered from the perpetrator. Local councils can also issue fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 to those who fly-tip, the income from which they must spend on clean up or enforcement. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to issue statutory enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their powers.

We have also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.