Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has published league tables ranking local authorities in England on fly tipping enforcement.
The league tables are based on data from the 2021/22 financial year and show which local authorities issued the most fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and the ratio between incidents reported and FPNS issued.
Defra cautions that the enforcement data shouldn’t be used in isolation as a measurement of performance as local authorities take a variety of approaches to tackling fly tipping based on their local priorities.
Comparisons between local authorities should be made with care, Defra says, as the data can be influenced by population density, housing stock, demographics and commuter routes.
The table below shows the ten local authorities with the highest FPN to incident ratios in 2021/22:
|
Rank of FPNs per incident (1) |
Local Authority |
Region |
FPNs per incident (2)(3) |
Total FPNs |
Total Enforcement Actions |
Total Incidents |
|
1 |
Thurrock |
East |
2.22 |
4,341 |
5,340 |
1,953 |
|
2 |
Basildon |
Eastern |
1.74 |
6,420 |
9,427 |
3,682 |
|
3 |
Brighton and Hove |
South East |
1.65 |
2,609 |
3,318 |
1,585 |
|
4 |
Brentwood |
Eastern |
1.04 |
608 |
612 |
586 |
|
5 |
North Somerset |
South West |
0.94 |
1,143 |
1,416 |
1,212 |
|
6 |
Waltham Forest |
London |
0.84 |
8,212 |
10,039 |
9,813 |
|
7 |
Rushcliffe |
East Midlands |
0.74 |
755 |
1,159 |
1,024 |
|
8 |
Wandsworth |
London |
0.69 |
4,179 |
18,119 |
6,015 |
|
9 |
Islington |
London |
0.64 |
905 |
2,857 |
1,404 |
|
10 |
Enfield |
London |
0.57 |
3,140 |
5,061 |
5,462
|
Total FPNs includes FPNs issued specifically for fly tipping, breaching the household waste duty of care, littering issued in conjunction with fly tipping, and other FPNs issued in relation to fly tipping.
The total number of FPNs issued was 91,000 in 2021/22. According to the data, there were 43 local authorities that did not issue any FPNs and 76 local authorities issued 10 or fewer FPNs.
In its Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan, the UK government committed to increasing data transparency on the use of on-the-spot fines, including publishing league tables on fly tipping enforcement. Defra says the league tables show which local authorities are taking a “muscular approach” to stopping fly tipping.
As part of the plan, the Prime Minister promised to increase the upper limit on fines for fly-tipping from £400 to £1,000 and said local authorities will keep the funds generated from fines to “reinvest in clean up and enforcement”.
Earlier this year (2023), Defra released statistics for the 2021/22 year that showed local authorities in England dealt with 1.09 million fly-tipping incidents, a decrease of 4% from the 1.14 million reported in 2020/21.
The ten local authorities with the lowest FPN to incident ratios in 2021/22:
|
Rank of FPNs per incident (1) |
Local Authority |
Region |
FPNs per incident (2) |
Total FPNs (3) |
Total Enforcement Actions |
Total Incidents |
|
265 |
Liverpool |
North West |
0.0001 |
1 |
1 |
18,976 |
|
264 |
Gateshead |
North East |
0.0002 |
1 |
162 |
5,644 |
|
263 |
Southampton |
South East |
0.0002 |
2 |
236 |
9,999 |
|
262 |
Winchester |
South East |
0.0006 |
1 |
123 |
1,732 |
|
261 |
Stockport |
North West |
0.0006 |
2 |
3,191 |
3,157 |
|
260 |
Rugby |
West Midlands |
0.0007 |
1 |
11 |
1,511 |
|
259 |
Welwyn Hatfield |
Eastern |
0.0008 |
3 |
17 |
3,722 |
|
258 |
Darlington |
North East |
0.0010 |
3 |
1,005 |
2,963 |
|
257 |
Rother |
South East |
0.0011 |
1 |
38 |
928 |
|
256 |
Salford |
North West |
0.0012 |
7 |
287 |
6,020 |
|
255 |
Castle Point |
Eastern |
0.0012 |
1 |
840 |
840 |
Total local authority enforcement actions
There were 507,000 enforcement actions carried out in England – multiple actions can be carried out on one incident. Enforcement actions could include investigations, warning letters, statutory notices, FPNs, duty of care inspections, stop and search, vehicles seized, formal cautions, prosecutions and injunctions.
Eight local authorities did not report any enforcement actions through WasteDataFlow in 2021/22: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Unitary Authority, Colchester, East Devon, Exeter, Isles of Scilly, Somerset West and Taunton, Uttlesford, and Wychavon.
Councils reporting higher incidents of fly tipping are often being proactive and rigorous in identifying incidents, Defra says, by encouraging the public to report incidents, training street crews, and using more sophisticated methods for capturing and reporting incidents.
CIWM encouraged by reductions in fly tipping, but says overall levels remain too high
CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) says it is encouraged by the decrease in fly tipping incidents as shown in the Defra fly tipping statistics for England for the year 2021/22. However, the organisation says that while it is pleasing to see a 9% reduction in fly tipping of household waste, overall levels of fly tipping are still too high.
CIWM says it also welcomes the news that court fines have tripled, with the size of those fines having doubled, and that the number of enforcement actions is returning to pre-pandemic levels. The 58% increase in the use of FPNs, especially by local authorities, shows real intent from regulators to crack down on this anti-social behaviour, CIWM says.
The organisation continues that it hopes to see a continuation of this trend, as well as further progress on reducing the number of fly tipping incidents, in next year’s statistics.
The action taken by local authorities and the courts is positive and is exactly what we have wanted to see.
CIWM Policy & External Affairs Director, Lee Marshall, said: “It is heartening to see the decline in fly tipping, especially of household waste, but there is still a lot of work to do. The action taken by local authorities and the courts is positive and is exactly what we have wanted to see.
“Hopefully this will serve as a deterrent to future fly tipping as people see there is an increased chance of getting caught. The 5% decrease in incidents of fly tipping on highways is also an impressive achievement.”
CIWM says it would also like to see faster progress being made on the development and rollout of digital waste tracking. CIWM believes that being able to track all waste from the point of origin to its final destination will make even greater inroads in reducing the prevalence of fly tipping across the whole country.
