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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what remedies are available to local authorities against fly tippers.

The estimated cost of clearance of fly-tipping to local authorities in 2014/15 was nearly £50 million. Local authorities dealt with nearly 900,000 incidents of fly-tipping in 2014/15, with nearly two thirds of fly-tips involving household waste.

The penalties for fly-tipping are imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine, or both, on summary conviction; or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine, or both, on conviction on indictment.

In May 2016 the Government gave local councils the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for small-scale fly-tipping as an alternative to prosecution. The fine for a Fixed Penalty Notice is between £150 and £400 as specified by the waste collection authority, and £200 if no amount is specified.

Local authorities are not under any legal obligation to clear fly-tipped waste from private property, so this responsibility falls to the landowner. Depending on the circumstances, local authorities will often provide advice and guidance on measures that can be taken to prevent further fly-tipping, or may investigate an incident if there is sufficient evidence. Some authorities may also offer a clearance service but they are likely to charge for this. Government officials chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.