Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Flytippers' paradise
As a local councillor, flytipping is the bane of my life. It is a constant struggle to keep on top of it and get the council to remove it. Flytippers are rarely caught and when they are, in Swansea at least, they appear to get away with just a rap on the knuckles, if that.
It is little surprise therefore to read this article in the Guardian, which reports the view of the chair of the Commons public accounts committee that the government’s attitude to waste crime is “close to decriminalisation” as fines are so low.
The paper adds that MPs have warned that organised criminals view the relatively tiny fines as a business expense as illegal waste dumping becomes a lucrative income stream for gangs:
Estimates put the cost of the crime at about £1bn a year for England, though that is probably an underestimate. A new Pac report, to be presented to parliament on Thursday, found that such crimes are on the rise as little is done to tackle them.
The report is highly critical of Defra and the Environment Agency, which it says are making only “slow and piecemeal” progress in implementing the 2018 resources and waste strategy aimed at eliminating waste crime. It points out there is still no plan for achieving its target of eliminating waste crime by 2043. The report states that four years into that 25-year target, measures central to achieving the aim such as digital tracking of waste are “not even at the pilot stage”.
According to the committee, “waste crime is not getting the local or national attention needed to effectively tackle it, despite it being on the rise and increasingly dominated by organised criminal gangs”, and the cost of living crisis is potentially increasing the “incentives for people to get rid of waste inappropriately”.
The report said fines were insufficient and only jail sentences deterred waste criminals. It recommended that Defra and the Environment Agency use technology including satellites and drones to track down fly tippers. It also said that the landfill tax, implemented to increase recycling, has increased incentives to fly-tip.
The report found that HMRC had not yet achieved a single successful prosecution for landfill tax evasion. The one investigation where it did try to prosecute the alleged offenders cost £3.5m but did not go to court because evidential requirements were not met.
The situation is not much different in Wales either and until enforcenent agencies have more resources and the penalties available to them increased, then things will not change.
It is little surprise therefore to read this article in the Guardian, which reports the view of the chair of the Commons public accounts committee that the government’s attitude to waste crime is “close to decriminalisation” as fines are so low.
The paper adds that MPs have warned that organised criminals view the relatively tiny fines as a business expense as illegal waste dumping becomes a lucrative income stream for gangs:
Estimates put the cost of the crime at about £1bn a year for England, though that is probably an underestimate. A new Pac report, to be presented to parliament on Thursday, found that such crimes are on the rise as little is done to tackle them.
The report is highly critical of Defra and the Environment Agency, which it says are making only “slow and piecemeal” progress in implementing the 2018 resources and waste strategy aimed at eliminating waste crime. It points out there is still no plan for achieving its target of eliminating waste crime by 2043. The report states that four years into that 25-year target, measures central to achieving the aim such as digital tracking of waste are “not even at the pilot stage”.
According to the committee, “waste crime is not getting the local or national attention needed to effectively tackle it, despite it being on the rise and increasingly dominated by organised criminal gangs”, and the cost of living crisis is potentially increasing the “incentives for people to get rid of waste inappropriately”.
The report said fines were insufficient and only jail sentences deterred waste criminals. It recommended that Defra and the Environment Agency use technology including satellites and drones to track down fly tippers. It also said that the landfill tax, implemented to increase recycling, has increased incentives to fly-tip.
The report found that HMRC had not yet achieved a single successful prosecution for landfill tax evasion. The one investigation where it did try to prosecute the alleged offenders cost £3.5m but did not go to court because evidential requirements were not met.
The situation is not much different in Wales either and until enforcenent agencies have more resources and the penalties available to them increased, then things will not change.
