PM gives police power to hand out tougher penalties for Fly-tipping
The minimum fine for fly-tipping is going up by more than double
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has granted police forces the power to hand out tougher sanctions when dealing with fly-tipping offences.
The announcement follows Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) across the South West joining together to write a letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs calling for tougher sanctions against fly-tipping offenders.
In the letter they described the offence as a ‘growing menace’ and the government has responded by raising the minimum fine for fly-tipping from £400 to £1000, which the government says will give enforcement agencies the tools required to act.
The five PCC’s said fly-tipping had become the anti-social behaviour of both urban areas and the countryside, with ‘greater coordination’ and ‘tough penalties’ required to meet the Government target of eradicating waste crime by 2043.
They stated it’s time that 'criminals pay for fly-tipping, not taxpayers'.
Additional changes will see more support given to local authorities allowing them hand out further fines to ‘disrespectful offenders’, a league table for local authorities based on fly-tipping performance and a change in the law removing the need to have the regulator present when a police officer seizes a vehicle unlawfully carrying waste.
Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick said: “I am delighted the work myself other PCCs in the South West and the National Rural Crime Network have done in lobbying the government has paid off and we are now seeing positive changes which will help police and other enforcement agencies, to be tougher on those committing the offence of fly-tipping.”