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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of devolving fine-setting powers for fly-tipping and littering offences to local authorities.

Fixed penalties provide local authorities with an effective and visible way of quickly responding to environmental crimes, where prosecution may not be proportionate. Local authorities must set fixed penalties for litter and fly-tipping from within ranges specified in law. If a penalty level is not set by the authority then a default penalty level will apply.

We believe local authorities are best placed to select the appropriate level, to ensure it reflects local circumstances such as ability to pay. This flexibility is consistent with the responses we received to the consultation on introducing fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping.

Under the Prime Minister’s Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan, the first local authority fly-tipping enforcement league tables were published in August 2023. These show which councils are making good use of their powers to issue fixed penalties, encouraging both scrutiny and the sharing of best practice.