The Environment Minister, Dr Therese Coffey MP, has told MPs that the Government will review sentencing for those found guilty of fly-tipping waste.
Speaking in a Westminster Hall Debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday 17 April, Dr Coffey defended the Government's record saying that "Councils have over 20 powers to tackle fly-tipping… and we have introduced fixed penalty notices". However, she acknowledged that more could be done and committed to review the current punishments available for the crime which is something the Countryside Alliance called for ahead of the debate.
The debate was led by Neil Parish MP, Chair of the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, who reminded the 25 MPs present that "fly tipping is not a victimless crime" and said that "the onus should not be on landowners and farmers" who are innocent and yet face a legal obligation to deal with waste on private land. Mr Parish quoted from several people who had contacted him ahead of the debate with examples of their experiences of fly-tipping and the problems this causes.
The Countryside Alliance has campaigned on fly-tipping for many years and this work was acknowledged by the Shadow Farming Minister David Drew MP who described fly-tipping as "big business in the criminal underworld."
Countryside Alliance Head of Policy, Sarah Lee, commented: "The Countryside Alliance welcomes this commitment to review the current punishments from the Minister but is concerned that if stronger action is not taken then we will continue to see fly-tipping increasing every year and this is unacceptable. We must all work harder to fight this blight. Farmers and landowners must report any suspicious activity and put in place prevention measures to make it more difficult for people to fly-tip on their land. But this must be backed up by local authorities using the full force of the law against those who fly-tip and strengthened where appropriate."
The Countryside Alliance briefing note on the debate can be found here.