Resolved –
Fly-tipping is illegal and it costs taxpayers in England more than £57 million a year to clear up. This Council will not tolerate people who fly-tip, blighting neighbourhoods and making people feel bad about where they live. We have already taken the following steps to reduce fly-tipping and deal with perpetrators:
• We prosecute those caught fly-tipping – since April 2016, we have carried out 93 prosecutions, including formal cautions, for waste offences including fly-tipping. We have also issued 72 Fixed Penalty Notices of £400 for fly-tipping offences and we have seized three vans.
• We have taken advantage of new legislation to issue £250 Fixed Penalty Notices to householders who use unregistered waste carriers.
• We have stepped up media activity, including the use of social media, around prosecutions to name and shame perpetrators as well as inform others that action will be taken.
• We regularly encourage people to report fly-tipping incidents to 01274 431000.
• We are working in partnership with the police and have undertaken regular operations to identify and deal with illegal waste carriers.
• We clamped down on fly-tipping of waste during the Bonfire Night period by undertaking surveillance of bonfire hotspots including the use of electronic highway signs to raise awareness.
These actions are having a positive impact but fly-tipping continues to be a major challenge for local authorities and communities, and in research carried out by The Furniture Recycling Group Bradford was ranked behind only Manchester and Liverpool for fly-tipping incidents. Councils across the country took action on nearly half a million incidents in 2018/19 – around 5,000 more than the previous year and up by nearly 75,000 in six years, however analysis by the LGA has shown that nobody convicted of fly-tipping has received the maximum £50,000 fine or 12 months in prison since new guidelines were introduced in 2014. This Council now resolves to further invest in interventions to prevent fly-tipping as follows:
• Purchase 15 mobile cameras to catch perpetrators – 80% of prosecutions are done based on camera evidence. Cameras allow us to capture the vehicle registration and trace the owner so that the appropriate enforcement action can be taken.
• Use bunding, fencing, bouldering to defend sites which are regularly fly-tipped to prevent further incidents.
• Raise awareness and work with more private landowners and with communities to promote responsible waste management practices.
• Look at how the Council can step up enforcement activity against private land owners and landlords who don’t act responsibly in safeguarding their property from becoming a fly-tipping hotspot.
• Request the Chief Executive to write to the government to demand that courts fully use the powers available to them to deal with those convicted of fly-tipping.
• Request officers to look into additional measures that can be taken to identify those responsible, such as offering rewards to residents who provide information which leads to convictions.
ACTION: Chief Executive/Strategic Director Place