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 take steps to strengthen local authority powers on tackling fly tipping from (a) members of the public and (b) commercial operators.

Fly-tipping is unacceptable and illegal wherever it occurs. It blights local communities and the environment and is an issue we are committed to tackling.

We have recently provided local authorities with enhanced enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping. Since January 2019 local authorities have been able to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) of up to £400 to householders who fail in their duty of care and give their waste to fly-tippers. We had previously given local authorities the power to issue FPNs to those who were caught fly-tipping.

We have also given local authorities, that are also waste collection authorities, the power to search and or seize vehicles that they suspect have been involved, are involved or are about to be involved in fly-tipping and other waste crimes.

Going forward, we are seeking powers in the Environment Bill to ensure agencies and authorities can work more effectively to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry.

In addition to enhancing enforcement powers, we committed in the Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle fly-tipping. The RWS is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-andwaste-strategy-for-england.