Just one person prosecuted for fly-tipping in Somerset
The Nature minister has named and shamed three of the former districts in a recent parliamentary debate
Only one person in Somerset has been prosecuted for fly-tipping in the last two years, Somerset Council has confirmed.
Enforcement action against fly-tipping fell under the responsibility of Somerset’s four district councils before they were abolished and replaced by Somerset Council in April 2023.
Nature minister Mary Creagh MP named and shamed three of the former districts in a recent parliamentary debate for having zero enforcement actions over the last financial year.
Somerset Council has confirmed it had overseen one successful prosecution since 2022, adding that it was hard to bring cases forward due to a lack of evidence and enforcement resources.
Ms Creagh – who represents the Coventry East constituency – made her comments during a Westminster Hall debate dedicated to fly-tipping held on September 3, before the party conference recess.
She named the following 13 local authorities who reported no cases of enforcement against fly-tipping in the last 12 months:
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
Colchester Borough Council
East Devon District Council
Exeter City Council
Fylde Borough Council
Council of the Isles of Scilly
Lewes District Council
Sedgemoor District Council (defunct)
Somerset West and Taunton Council (defunct)
South Hams District Council
South Somerset District Council (defunct)
Uttlesford District Council
West Devon Borough Council
She said: “I intend to write to all 13 councils that reported zero enforcement actions in the past reporting year. That is not good enough.
“Fly-tipping is a crime that blights local communities and, indeed, poses a great difficulty to landowners.
“Approaches to tackling fly-tipping change and need to be responsive to local needs, not least because what works in inner-city Newham will not necessarily work in Strangford.”
Sarah Dyke, the Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, said that many farmers in her constituency were put off reporting fly-tipping due to the “time-consuming” processes currently in place.
She said: “The Environment Agency found that 86 per cent of farmers have been affected by fly-tipping this year.
“However, many of those incidents are not reported because the reporting process is time-consuming, confusing and frustrating, and it does not stack up for farmers to do it – so they clear the waste themselves.
“Does the honourable member agree that a single reporting mechanism needs to be developed to help farmers and land managers? A single mechanism should be in place so that a fly-tip should have to be reported only once.”
Deirdre Costigan, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall – who had organised the debate – responded: “My father’s family are from Tipperary, and they were farmers; I do appreciate, and am well aware, of the cost of fly-tipping to farmers in particular.
“As it is on private land, they are, in most cases, liable for the costs of removal themselves.
“Certainly, there is more that we can do on reporting. The reports that we currently have are only the tip of the iceberg as a lot of communities just do not report.”
Somerset Council said it responded to all reports of fly-tipping across the county, but was unable to bring prosecutions in the vast majority of cases.
A spokesman said: “Fly-tipping is a crime punishable by fine or imprisonment. It is a threat to health, wildlife and Somerset’s landscape and environment.
“We respond quickly to all reports of fly tipping, collecting the illegal waste as soon as possible.
“In 2022-23 we saw one prosecution for fly tipping in Somerset. This was in the former Mendip District Council area.
“Pursuing prosecutions for fly-tipping is very labour-intensive, requiring investigation and collation of evidence to a point where there is a realistic chance of prosecution. In most cases that evidence is not available.”