The Government is proposing to implement fixed penalty notices (FPN) for household Duty of Care offences related to fly-tipping, as it publishes a summary of responses to its January (2018) consultation on proposals to tackle crime.
The proposals set out at the start of the year included raising the bar required to hold Environment Agency (EA) waste permits, and putting a stop to criminals hiding their illegal activities by requiring them to register low-risk waste operations which are currently exempt from the need to hold a permit.
The consultation also proposed improving awareness amongst householders, so people can check on the EA website to see if the recipient of their waste is licensed to take their waste, or their duty to pass waste to legitimate carriers.
It also suggested providing local authorities with the option of fining those whose waste ends up fly-tipped or illegally dumped rather than having to pursue them through the courts.
The summary of responses has now been published alongside a new consultation, and further consideration is ongoing ahead of a final decision on how we will proceed.
Householders already have a duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure their waste is passed to an authorised person. Currently the only option for the regulator (usually the local authority in this case) to address breaches of the duty of care is to take the offender to court.
This further consultation focuses on the proposal to introduce a new FPN for household Duty of Care offences related to fly-tipping.
Householders already have a duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure their waste is passed to an authorised person. Currently the only option for the regulator (usually the local authority in this case) to address breaches of the duty of care is to take the offender to court.
In the previous consultation, Defra sought views on providing guidance for householders on the reasonable measures that can be taken to meet their duty of care, and guidance for regulators on the use of the proposed FPN.
If a decision is taken to introduce a FPN to provide a more proportionate response to breaches of this Duty of Care, Defra proposes to issue non-statutory guidance to local authorities on how the FPN should be used, and update existing guidance in the waste Duty of Care Code of Practice, which sets out the waste duty of care requirements for householders, to provide greater detail on how to meet the duty of care.
This guidance is being consulted on ahead of a final decision being taken on the proposed FPN, in order to allow for timely introduction if such a decision is taken.
Drafts of the updated guidance to householders and English local authorities are included as annexes to this consultation.
Guidance for Welsh local authorities will be issued separately by the Welsh Government. Minor amendments have also been made to other parts of the Code of Practice to better reflect existing legislation.