Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) take steps to allow local authorities to set unlimited fines for littering and fly-tipping offences and (b) make an assessment of the financial resources local authority refuse departments have available to collect fly-tipping.

The Government is currently not considering further increases to the maximum levels of fixed penalty notices that can be issued by local authorities. At present these stand at £500 for littering and £1000 for fly-tipping. Local authorities must spend this income on enforcement or clean up.

Local authorities also have powers to prosecute anyone suspected of littering or fly-tipping. This can lead to potentially higher fines, criminal records or, for fly-tipping, a community sentence or even imprisonment

The Government is not planning to make an assessment of local authority resources to collect fly-tipping. We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. The Government have listened to voices across the sector, and we prioritised local government at the Budget, where we announced over £4 billion in additional funding for local government services, including £1.3 billion which will go through the Settlement.