Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 26
26
Accepted
Local authorities reported 1.1 million incidents of fly-tipping during 2020–21 to Defra.91 However, Defra recognises...
Recommendation
Local authorities reported 1.1 million incidents of fly-tipping during 2020–21 to Defra.91 However, Defra recognises that some local authorities provide incomplete figures, and that coverage of fly-tipping on private sector land is not good enough.92 Other stakeholders made similar points more strongly: written evidence from academics stated that “Waste crime on private land is overlooked” while evidence from the National Farmers Union (NFU) said that better reporting and recording of waste crime on private land “is urgently needed” due to a substantial number of unrecorded incidents.93 Recorded fly-tipping is high in urban areas: Hackney recorded 13,600 incidents in 2020–21, while Sandwell recorded 10,300.94 But it is also a serious issue in rural areas: the NFU estimates that fly-tipping is a widespread problem that will affect two-thirds of farmers. In addition, the NFU reports 82 Q 89 83 Q 6 84 Q 81 85 Environment Agency, Waste Crime Summary Data to 2020/21 86 C&AG’s Report, Figure 7; Environment Agency, Waste Crime Summary Data to 2020/21 87 Q 81 88 GWC0003 (ESA) 89 Q 46 90 Biffa fined £1.5 million for ‘reckless’ export breach - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 91 C&AG’s Report, para 1.14 92 Qq 2, 41; C&AG’s Report, para 1.14 93 GWC0001 (Farrell, Dixon and Tilley); GWC0004 (NFU England and Wales) 94 Qq 30, 33, 43; Defra, ENV24 – Fly tipping incidents and actions taken in England, statistical dataset, December 2021 18 Government actions to combat waste crime hearing from its members about an increase in large scale fly-tipping involving multiple vehicles in a short space of time.95 It is the responsibility of the landowner to remove waste fly-tipped on private land.96 The NFU told us that costs can run from hundreds to tens of thousands of pounds to deal with and remove fly-tipped waste, while protective measures both cost money to install and increase farmers’ workload.97
Government Response Summary
Defra should work with local authorities to set a clear national framework for tackling fly-tipping, setting overall expectations and promoting good practice, while allowing local authorities the flexibility to respond to local circumstances with a target implementation date of December 2023.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5. PAC conclusion: Defra is not doing enough to support local authorities to tackle fly-tipping. 5. PAC recommendation: Defra should work with local authorities to set a clear national framework for tackling fly-tipping, setting overall expectations and promoting good practice, while allowing local authorities the flexibility to respond to local circumstances. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: December 2023 5.2 The government supports local solutions for local problems. This is particularly relevant in dealing with fly-tipping problems, which require a local approach tailored to the community in which the problems occur. The role of central government is to enable and support this local action. Indeed, the government has previously strengthened local authority enforcement powers such as by providing councils with powers to issue fixed penalty notices. 5.3 Going forward, the department has already committed to working with the National Fly- tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), which includes representatives from several local authorities, to develop a fly-tipping toolkit. The toolkit will help share best practice on a range of issues related to tackling fly-tipping. The first part of the toolkit, on presenting robust prosecutions, was published earlier this year. 5.4 Work on the next part of the toolkit, how to set up effective anti-fly-tipping partnerships, has already commenced. The government expect this will be published in early 2023. 5.5 This toolkit will build on the range of resource already available on the NFTPG website that are designed to support local authorities and others in tackling fly-tipping. This includes a communications toolkit to help local authorities raise awareness among residents of their household waste duty of care, guidance on roles and responsibilities and numerous case studies detailing a range of interventions. Further case studies will be added in 2023 following the completion of local authority projects funded by the department’s fly-tipping intervention grant scheme, which saw grants totalling over £450,000 awarded across 11 local authorities.