Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Accepted
Defra told us it has invested in the development of apps to make reporting of...
Recommendation
Defra told us it has invested in the development of apps to make reporting of fly- tipping, such as on private land, to local authorities easier.103 Defra said it is developing a fly-tipping toolkit to share best practice, the first element of which relates to putting together robust cases for magistrates courts that demonstrate the impact of fly-tipping.104 The development of a fly-tipping toolkit was an action set out in the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy.105 Defra also told us it had invited local authorities it knew were leading on fly-tipping or had a significant fly-tipping issue to apply for up to £50,000 each for projects to trial approaches and interventions to prevent or address fly-tipping.106 We have previously commented on the burden on local authorities of bidding for funding pots, absorbing time and resource with no guarantee they will be successful; this is particularly true for small, short-duration grants.107 In this case six authorities worked on bids that were unsuccessful. Only three of the 11 successful authorities were outside London and the 95 GWC0004 (NFU England and Wales) 96 C&AG’s Report, para 3 97 GWC0004 (NFU England and Wales) 98 Defra, Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, September 2019, paras 1.1 and 2.6 99 Defra, Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse: Part 1A – Effective enforcement, February 2022, para 11B1 and footnote 1 100 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.15, 2.5, 3.15 101 Qq 30, 33, 43; Defra, ENV24 – Fly tipping incidents and actions taken in England, statistical dataset, December 2021 102 GWC0001 (Farrell, Dixon, Tilley) 103 Q 2 104 Qq 31–32; C&AG’s report, Figure 21 105 C&AG’s report, Figure 21 106 Qq 35–37; Letter from Defra’s Permanent Secretary to PAC Chair, sent 29 June 2022 107 Local Government Finance System: Overview and Challenges, Thirty-Fourth Report of Session 2021–22, HC 646, February 2022, conclusion 7 and paras 26–27; Local economic growth, Fifty Report of Session 2022–23, HC 252, June 2022, paras 5 and 6 Government
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to 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; target implementation date is December 2023. The government has already committed to working with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to update the toolkit, expect to publish the part on setting up effective anti-fly-tipping partnerships in early 2023, and will add further case studies in 2023 after local authority projects.
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.