Environmental crimes like littering and fly-tipping are selfish and opportunistic – damaging wildlife habitats, creating eyesores and ruining our enjoyment of the great outdoors. It’s right that criminals who spoil things for the rest of us are punished appropriately.
The Prime Minister’s Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan, launched in March, set out how the Government will help councils to take tougher action against those who harm our public spaces. The Government committed to raising the upper limits for fixed penalty notices for various offences this year, allowing councils greater freedom to set the rates that offenders should pay. The necessary regulations have now been laid, and from 31 July 2023, the upper limit of fixed penalty notices for littering, graffiti and fly-posting offences will increase from £150 to £500; for household waste duty of care offences from £400 to £600; and for fly-tipping offences from £400 to £1,000.
Taking proportionate and effective enforcement action against people who intentionally or carelessly damage their local environment is a practical step authorities can take to change behaviour and deter others from offending.
The Government is also looking at ringfencing the money raised from these fines for enforcement and clean up activity; increasing public scrutiny on the use of by publishing new fly-tipping league tables to show which local authorities are taking a muscular approach; and conducting research into effective enforcement practices.
Hyndburn Council was given £50,000 to crack down on fly-tipping in April 2023, something Hyndburn and Haslingden MP has campaigned tirelessly on. The East Lancs MP has also spoken in the House of Commons in support of these proposals when they were first announced in March 2023.
Sara Britcliffe MP said:
I am delighted that the upper limited for fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping have now been raised.
Fly-tipping is something that is raised with me regularly, it is a public nuisance and a blight on our communities. This is an issue I have worked on closely with our newly formulated Hyndburn Borough Council, who are already having success bringing down fly-tipping when compared with the previous administration.
I now want to see the council use these new powers myself and others have campaigned for, so that they can act as an effective deterrent to those who would act so negligently towards Hyndburn and Haslingden
