Fly tipping cost Calderdale up to £1m last year
However Calderdale Council thinks a new £1,000 fine is having an impact
Fly-tipping is not a victimless crime with councillors hearing dealing with it costs an estimated between £750,000 and £1,000,000 per year in their borough.
A significant cost is currently incurred utilising contractors to clear the waste, often due to the quantity of waste deposited, type of waste, location and due to the sheer volume of cases reported, Calderdale scrutiny councillors heard.
Costs are spread across several resources, from senior management through
to operational staff – involved in clearance, investigation, administration and enforcement – along with costs incurred for the disposal of waste such as those described.
But changes including introducing a £1,000 penalty for those caught doing it are starting to have an effect.
A council decision a year ago to remodel its approach to tackling the blight is paying off, say officers leading the teams.
Calderdale is one of the few councils who issues fixed penalty notices for £1,000 to those caught and this has been successful.
Talks have also begun with the Probation Service for a link-up for “community payback” by offenders who are caught, councillors heard.
In 2023-25, Calderdale received 5,053 reports of fly-tipping, which underlines the extent of the problem this and other local authorities face.
Calderdale remodelled staff in different departments who were dealing with different aspects of issues it raised and by also using technology including cameras and drones, is a much more effective force, scrutiny councillors heard.
Changes have improved the council’s ability to prioritise incidents and assess the impact of fly-tipping across the borough, with the aim of ensuring the right resource is available at the right time for the right task, officers said.
The council’s Director of Public Services, Ian Day, said: “Absolutely it isn’t a victimless crime.
“It causes a huge drain on council resources – that is money that ought to be spent on other public services and supporting our vulnerable residents across the borough.
“I think Calderdale is taking a very proactive step in taking the maximum fine possible to £1,000.
“I think that shows the intent to deal with this as seriously as we can.”
It also had an impact on private business, who had to pay to clear fly-tipping off their land, which was often a process which took time, frustrating residents who had reported dumping.
Processes were often under way but clear-up results not visible for some time, said officers.
Staff work across seven days a week and using camera and drone technology is “a game changer”, the council’s Place Scrutiny Board heard.
Help from community groups and residents also providing evidence – some cases go to court, but use of the maximum fixed penalty notice is financially better for the council, councillors heard.
If a case goes to court, the council gets costs incurred for bringing the case forward but the court keeps fine cash whereas with the penalty notices the council keeps it to use.
“Invariably, people do pay their FPNs – it has enabled us to do far more prosecution work and keep more of the income, said Mr Day.
Coun Stuart Cairney (Lab, Ovenden) asked about how the reporting system for fly-tipping could be improved, Coun Peter Hunt (Con, Elland) asked if further funding could be obtained for more cameras and drones and Coun Helen Brundell (Lab, Todmorden) asked about how a different but related problem, littering – including rubbish thrown from cars, a problem her colleague Coun Leah Webster (Lab, Ryburn) had reported was an increasing issue with vehicles leaving the M62 – was being tackled.
Officers responded online display of reported incidents was improving, grant streams had been fully explored but an eye always kept out for new ones and punishing littering of the type described was easier as now there was only a legal requirement to identify the car’s owner rather than who had actually thrown litter from a vehicle.
Answering a question from Coun Sue Holdsworth (Lib Dem, Greetland and Stainland) on whether the council’s own taking a more direct role in commercial waste after contract changes would help reduce fly-tipping, Mr Day said he did not think that would make any difference, although changes would help businesses who did not have a waste disposal contract of their own.
“I think most of the fly-tipping that we see isn’t as a result of failure to have a business waste contract.
“I think it is people trying to save money and dispose of the waste illegally, and I’m not sure that us operating a commercial waste service would have any bearing whatsoever on that level of fly-tipping,” he said.
Mr Day had already told councillors criminal enterprises were often involved.