Hampshire councils call for stiffer fly-tipping penalties
They want the sentencing council to review the current legislation
There's a call for fly-tippers across the region to face stiffer penalties.
Hampshire county council along with local authorities across north Hampshire say the current punishments are often insufficient for the severity of the offence.
Hampshire County Council deputy leader, Cllr Rob Humby, said:
"Fly-tipping is an illegal activity which is predominantly perpetrated by a minority of unscrupulous individuals seeking to make a profit by avoiding commercial waste disposal costs.
"Currently, the punishment for the offence of fly-tipping is an insufficient deterrent because the sentences handed down do not always match the severity of the offence committed or fairly reflect the cost to the public purse.
"Ultimately, the costs incurred by local authorities in dealing with fly-tipping adversely impact council taxpayers and this is unjust.
"We have appealed to the Sentencing Council to review the current penalties and consider our recommendations for strengthening them."
The Sentencing Council has been asked to consider changes that would mean:
• Court fines would exceed the cost of Fixed Penalty Notice fines and to include costs incurred by the public purse and the police in bringing a fly tipper to court;
• Costs related to the clean-up of fly tipping on private land and restoration of that land would be included in fines paid by those who are prosecuted;
• When deciding the level of fine, fly tipping would be looked at by the court as an offence in the first instance, and not at the person and their ability to pay first -it is suggested that means testing should be used to ascertain what type of fine(s) to give, and never how much they should pay;
• If a defendant cannot pay the fine in full, or in part, that community-based sentences are more widely used and available across all offence categories;
• More use of suspended prison sentences - which has been proven to be a strong deterrent to serial fly tipping offenders;
• And that anyone convicted of a second fly tipping offence is given a custodial sentence rather than another suspended sentence.