Today I attended a Westminster Hall debate to discuss the plight of fly-tipping which is a scourge on our beautiful countryside. According to a recent Hambleton District Council report fly-tipping clear-up costs has risen between 22 per cent and more than 300 per cent across North Yorkshire district authorities between 2014/15 and 2016/17. These are shocking statistics and something has to be done.
I was reassured to hear from the minister that Defra is working closely with organisations across government to tackle fly-tipping, including local authorities, the Local Government Association, the Environment Agency, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The maximum penalties for fly-tipping on summary conviction are a £50,000 fine and/or twelve months' imprisonment. If a case results in conviction in a Crown Court, the maximum penalties are an unlimited fine and/or five years' imprisonment.
The cost of clearing up fly-tipping is a huge and unnecessary burden on the taxpayer. In Hambleton, there has been a 93 per cent rise in the cost of clearing fly-tipping in one year alone – from £23,028 in 2015/16 to £44,485 in 2016/17. Local authorities are responsible for investigating and clearing up smaller scale fly-tipping on public land. I support Hambleton District Council’s efforts to encourage witnesses to report incidents and organising volunteer clean-up groups.
New regulations have been brought in to give the Environment Agency and Local Councils more effective tools to investigate and prosecute fly tipping crimes. These include enabling them to seize vehicles if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the vehicle is being used for fly tipping.