The Countryside Alliance responds to the latest Government statistics on fly-tipping

Today's statistics by the government, which were collated by the Environment Agency, reveal that fly-tipping has increased by 8% in England. This amounts, overall, to over 1 million instances in 2018/19.

The Countryside Alliance has longed campaigned on the blight that is fly-tipping and lobbied for these figures to be released annually.

Responding to the new figures, Sarah Lee, Head of Policy at the Countryside Alliance said: "Fly-tipping has been a serious issue in the countryside, and there is no quick fix but it is an issue many people feel strongly about and they want to see stronger enforcement action taken by the police and local authorities. The UK has a fly-tipping and litter problem and in 2018-2019 there were 1,072,000 incidents of fly-tipping in England, the equivalent of nearly 122 incidents every hour, and at a cost to local authorities of £12.9 million."

The Countryside Alliance calls for:

• Improved access to Civic Amenity sites: extension of opening hours; locations; and overhaul and standardisation of admission policies, to encourage lawful disposal of waste.
• Greater support for landowners: anti-fly-tipping measures; utilisation of comprehension orders; and closer working relationships with local authorities in recognition to particular problems caused by waste fly-tipped on private land.
• Increased investment in education: raise awareness of responsibility amongst individuals and businesses.
• Tougher penalties on perpetrators: imposing and enforcing penalties which better reflect the seriousness of the crime, such as seizing vehicles used to fly-tip, is vital.

You can see the full statistics here.