Huge hike in fly-tipping in York - calls for tougher fines

Calls are being made on the Government to review sentencing guidelines, introduce bigger fines, and even jail professional fly-tippers when they are caught.

And City of York Council bosses said a recommendation has been made to full council to increase fines against those responsible, and that it can use items found as evidence in legal action.

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Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show there were 1,837 fly-tipping incidents in York in the year to March 2023 – an increase of 11 per cent from 1,661 in 2021-22 and the highest figure since records began in 2012-13.

This meant there were nine incidents per 1,000 people in the area, according to government figures.

The council said its levels of actual reported fly-tipping increased by 10 per cent last year and that the number of incidents fell in the period from 2020/21 to 2021/22.

James Gilchrist, director of transport, environment and planning at City of York Council, said: “While incidents of fly-tipping in York increased last year, we remain committed to tacking this issue and would like to remind residents to always dispose of waste in the correct manner.

“This issue is taken very seriously, and the council’s Executive has agreed to recommend to full council an increase of the fine to the legal maximum of £1,000.”

In York, most fly-tipped waste was discovered on council land, accounting for 34 per cent of recorded incidents.

This was followed by 33 per cent on highways.

The largest proportion of discarded waste was household waste, making up 52 per cent of all incidents.

Across England, local authorities dealt with slightly fewer incidents in 2022-23 – 1.08 million compared with 1.09 million in 2021-22.

The number of fixed penalty notices issued across the country fell from 91,000 in 2021-22 to 73,000 in 2022-23, with 16 in York.

While the average court fine increased by 13 per cent to £526, there were fewer fines given last year with a total value of £785,000 compared to £837,000 in the year before.

In York, £1,746 was paid by those found guilty of fly-tipping.

Mr Gilchrist added: “City of York Council ensures that fly-tipping on public land, highways and riverbanks is cleared away as soon as possible.

“If we find items which could be used as evidence in legal action against those responsible for fly-tipping, our Neighbourhood Enforcement team will investigate further.

“Fly-tipping will be cleared once any investigation is complete.

“On private land, we will investigate fly-tips but landowners are responsible for clearance.”

The Government’s recycling minister Robbie Moore said: “Fly-tipped rubbish is a blight on the landscape, and a burden on councils to clean up so it’s absolutely right for councils to take strong action whenever a crime is committed.

“We are making solid progress, with enforcement up by six per cent and fly-tipping decreasing for the second year in a row but we know there is more to do.

“That’s why we are helping councils to take the fight to criminals, with additional grants to tackle fly-tipping, higher £1,000 on-the-spot fines for offenders and powers to stop, search, and seize vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping.”