Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mary Creagh and Gregor Poynton

Thursday 8th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gregor Poynton (Livingston) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mary Creagh)]

Under the previous Government, fly-tipping skyrocketed by 20%, leaving communities buried under an avalanche of rubbish. This Government are clearing up their mess, tackling the waste cowboys, closing the loopholes that allowed waste crime to flourish and cleaning up Britain. We will hunt down the fly-tippers with the latest technology, including drones and mobile CCTV, introduce new powers to seize and crush vehicles and increase prison sentences to up to five years for those transporting waste illegally.

[Gregor Poynton]

I thank the Minister for that answer. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with the West Lothian Litter Pickers, who are doing so much in my Livingston constituency to reduce the causes and symptoms of fly-tipping and littering, but it is scandalous that their work is needed. In Scotland, the latest figures show that only 1.2% of fly-tipping incidents have resulted in a fixed penalty notice and a mere 0.2% in a criminal prosecution. Does the Minister agree that, in sharp contrast with this UK Labour Government, who are taking a zero-tolerance approach and cracking down on fly-tipping, the Scottish Government’s record in this area is, quite frankly, rubbish?

[Mary Creagh]

I am sorry to hear that the SNP Government are not taking firm action, but perhaps where we have led the way, they would like to follow. I congratulate West Lothian Litter Pickers and pay tribute to Keep Britain Tidy, whose Great British spring clean, backed by the Daily Mirror, helped to tackle the 30 million tonnes of litter discarded on our streets each year, including 5 billion cigarette butts. Each cigarette butt can poison 1,000 litres of water. If we are serious about marine litter, we have to pick up our butts—and perhaps a little less talk and a little more action from the SNP.