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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce fly-tipping in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Local authorities are often best placed to respond to incidences of fly-tipping. They have a range of enforcement powers which we encourage them to make good use of. We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide enforcement guidance, which councils would legally need to have regard to.

In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.

In the meantime, Defra will continue to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, to promote good practice on tackling fly-tipping.  Various practical tools, including ‘how to’ guides covering key issues, are also available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.