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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase enforcement powers to tackle (a) fly-tipping and (b) littering in (i) Huddersfield and (ii) similar towns.

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and littering. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 for fly-tipping and £500 for littering, and prosecution action which can lead to significant fine or even imprisonment and vehicle seizure. We encourage councils to make good use of these powers and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support local authorities to consistently and effectively exercise these existing powers.

We have also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.

We are also committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Additionally, we will move the regulation of waste carriers, brokers and dealers from light-touch registration into environmental permitting. This will enhance the Envrionment Agency’s ability to take action in this area and make it harder for rogue operators to operate. Penalties set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, such as prison sentences of up to 5 years, will also become applicable to breaches of the new regulations.