Case Studies

Fly-tipping rise

by Mark Rowe

Councils in England dealt with 1.13 million fly-tipping incidents, an increase of 16 per cent from the 980,000 reported in 2019/20. That’s according to a gov.uk statistical notice on fly-tipping incidents recorded by councils in England, for April 2020 to March 2021.

Not all councils are taking all incidents; which typically are of household waste (in ‘black bags’): some are counting customer reported fly-tips only, or those incidents reported by staff. Larger-scale dumping that involved the Environment Agency or tipping cleared by private landowners are not included.

As for comparison with previous years, the two previous years’ totals were below one million. The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on highways (pavements and roads), which accounted for over two fifths (43pc) of total incidents in 2020/21, the same as in 2019/20. In 2020/21, the number of highway incidents was 485,000, which was an increase of 16pc from 419,000 in 2019/20. The most common size category for fly-tipping in 2020/21 was equivalent to a ‘small van load’ (34pc, one third of total incidents), followed by the equivalent of a ‘car boot or less’ (26pc).

Councils carried out 456,000 enforcement actions in 2020/21, a decrease of 18,000 actions (4pc) from 474,000 in 2019/20. The number of fixed penalty notices issued was 57,600 in 2020/21, a decrease of 24pc from 75,400 in 2019/20; and the number of court fines issued decreased by about half (51pc) from 2,672 to 1,313 in 2020/21. As the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) points out, staff being furloughed, and staff being redeployed in the pandemic emergency, and closures of courts may have affected the number of enforcement actions; although under actions falls an investigation (not necessarily with any punishment as an outcome) or a warning letter, rather than any fine. Councils in England have had the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small scale fly-tipping since 2016.

As for regions, London had the highest average number of incidents per thousand people at 43, while the South West had the lowest at ten incidents per thousand. For the statistics in full visit the Defra website.

Comment

David Renard, a councillor and environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA), described fly-tipping as inexcusable. He said: “It is not only an eyesore for residents, but a serious public health risk, creating pollution and attracting rats and other vermin. It also costs local taxpayers at least £50m a year to clear up.

“Councils have done what they can during the extremely challenging circumstances of the pandemic to crack down on fly-tippers, which has led to staff shortages and court closures during lockdowns. We continue to urge the Government to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, so that offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences to act as a deterrent.

“Manufacturers should also contribute to the costs to councils of clear up, by providing more take-back services so people can hand in old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones.”

Photo by Mark Rowe; fly-tip, North Downs, Surrey, summer 2021.

Related News

  • Case Studies

    Phish evolution

    by Mark Rowe

    Phishing and malware techniques have been evolving since the time they were detected, conceptualized and recognized. Even though the malware payload or…

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing