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Local environmental quality: fly-tipping

What is the Government doing to help deal with fly-tipping?

Legislation
Other mesures


Site waste management plans for the construction industry

Following a consultation, new Regulations come into force in April 2008 which will make Site Waste Management Plans compulsory for all construction projects in England over a certain value.

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Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005: fly-tipping measures

Fly-tipping - copyright Encamms The fly-tipping strategy helped develop measures for the Clean Neighbourhoods consultation (2004). This consultation led to a whole host of fly-tipping measures being included in Part 5 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, which gained Royal Assent on 7 April 2005.

This Act is a key component in Defra's strategy to deal with fly-tipping. We have worked closely with key stakeholders to develop a range of pro-active policies that will update and modernise the legislation and will provide more flexible penalties and sentencing arrangements for the courts.

In summary, the measures included in the Act will:

  • Help the Environment Agency and local authorities to deal more effectively and immediately with those responsible for fly-tipping. They will send out a clear message that this serious environmental crime will no longer be tolerated.
  • Extend local authorities' powers of investigation for waste offences - including fly-tipping - allowing them to trace the perpetrators of these offences and make sure the polluter pays. It proposes to more flexible penalties for local authorities and the Agency by allowing fixed penalty notices for certain offences.
  • Introduce tough new powers to the courts to order an offender found guilty of fly-tipping to pay the full costs incurred by the enforcement authorities in investigating the offence and any clean up costs of landowners affected by it.
  • Allow the court to order the forfeiture of a vehicle if it has been used for fly-tipping, and to give that vehicle to the Environment Agency (or the local authority) to sell or destroy.
  • Give new powers to the Environment Agency and local authorities to stop, search and instantly seize vehicles being used for fly-tipping or that are carrying waste that are not registered as waste carriers.
  • Extend Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to allow the Agency and local authorities to serve a notice on a landowner requiring him to clear fly-tipped waste from his land. Landowners can only be held responsible if there is no occupier, and both occupiers and owners will only be held responsible if they knew or allowed the fly-tipping to take place.
  • Raise the maximum penalty for fly-tipping from £20,000 to £50,000. This is in line with Government's desire to take a tougher stance on environmental crime and stresses the seriousness of illegally disposed waste. The maximum term of imprisonment will also be raised from 6 to 12 months when tried in the Magistrates Court. In the Crown Court all fly-tipping offences can attract a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment.
  • Introduce legislation so that construction, demolition and excavation waste is dealt with in a cost effective and environmentally-sound manner by allowing regulations to require site waste management plans for certain construction projects.

Defra is currently working on the further developments coming from the Fly-Tipping Strategy. These include:

  • Duty of Care, Waste Carriers and Waste Brokers Review
  • Site Waste Management Plans Regulations
  • New Stop, Search and Seizure Regulations

There will be public consultations on the further detail to be included in this work.

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Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003

A range of measures was then brought forward through the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. The measures enable local authorities to stop, search and seize vehicles (in the presence of a police constable) suspected of being used for fly-tipping and to investigate incidents to help them track down and prosecute those responsible for dumping the waste. This should in turn lead to more successful prosecutions ensuring the fly-tippers are penalised accordingly.

The Act also includes a power for Defra to require waste collection authorities and the Environment Agency to submit regular data on the types and quantities of fly-tipping they deal with. The Flycapture database was the result of this.


Anti-Social Behaviour Statutory Directions

The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 also gave the Secretary of State the power to issue statutory directions that will formalise the division of responsibilities between the Agency and local authorities. This will ensure an effective working partnership to tackle all aspects of illegally dumped waste as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Defra consulted on the proposed statutory directions in 2004 and analysed the consultation responses, but is not yet in a position to bring forward new directions. We are currently reconsidering the scope of the directions, but it seems likely that further changes in primary legislation will be required to take this forward, to make sure the division of responsibilities between WCAs and the EA is set out clearly.

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The Fly-Tipping Strategy

Defra also consulted on the fly-tipping strategy in February 2004.

  • puts Local Authorities in the front line for dealing with small-scale local fly-tipping issues, providing them with the tools necessary to investigate and trace the perpetrators.
  • the Environment Agency (EA): will primarily focus on tackling the large-scale fly-tipping of non-hazardous wastes, the fly-tipping of certain hazardous wastes and the involvement of organised crime in fly-tipping and illegal waste management. They are also well placed to ensure strategic support for local authorities and advice on implementation of environmental regulation
Five key strands

In liaison with key stakeholders the Government has been developing policies based around five strands:

  • ensure better prevention, investigation and enforcement of fly-tipping and other forms of illegal waste dumping
  • make existing legislation more usable and effective
  • extend the range of powers available to allow authorities more flexibility in dealing with fly-tipping
  • improving the data and knowledge base so that resources can be targeted
  • ensure that waste producers take responsibility for having their waste legally managed


Fly-tipping research and best practice guide

Defra has commissioned the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, part of University College London, to conduct a research project that explores the causes and incentives for fly-tipping.

Flycapture Enforcement project

This project is aimed directly at helping local authorities to take appropriate enforcement action in response to the fly-tipping incidents with which they deal. For information on how to pre-register on courses contact: flycapture.enforcement@encams.org

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Page last modified: 15 February 2008
Page published: 25 February 2004

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs