Funding awarded for councils to tackle fly-tipping

26 councils are to receive a share of almost £1 million to step up their efforts on tackling fly tipping.

Recycling minister Robbie Moore made the announcement on Saturday 18 May.

The money will be spent on items such as increased CCTV in hotspots, AI-assisted camera technology, and campaigns to raise households’ awareness of their duty to only use licensed waste companies when getting rid of rubbish.

Recycling minister, Robbie Moore said: "Fly-tipping is a brazen attack on communities, nature and our environment. It can create danger for wildlife as well as people and I am determined the harm done by cynical criminals doesn’t go unpunished.

"We have increased the maximum penalty councils can issue for these offences, made sure money from those fines goes back into more enforcement and clean up, and now we are giving councils a further £1 million boost.

"Our previous funding has achieved significant reductions in fly-tipping across many parts of England – which is why we will build on our successes and ensure councils have more resources to carry on the fight."

The London Borough of Hounslow will be installing CCTV cameras with ANPR readers to better identify offenders, whilst directly informing residents about correct waste disposal methods.

Councillor Guy Lambert, cabinet member for highways, recycling and health integration at Hounslow Council said: "Fly-tipping on our streets and green spaces blights neighbourhoods, endangers wildlife, and impacts on people’s pride of place, while also putting added strain on council services.

"We are continuing to trial innovative new strategies to force down the number of fly-tipping offences in the borough. This latest funding is welcomed and will support our dedicated enforcement team to better identify offenders through enhanced CCTV images.

"Fly-tipping is a serious problem, and we want to send a clear message that we will not tolerate it, and anyone caught will be punished."

City of Wolverhampton Council will introduce further CCTV, signage and AI-enabled SMART cameras, with images captured on the CCTV shared via the council’s ‘Shop a Tipper’ campaign for residents to come forward to identify criminals. This will increase the probability of identifying offenders for prosecutions and reinforce that fly-tipping is not the easy option.

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: "Fly tipping is a blight on the local environment and it will not be tolerated in Wolverhampton.

"We are focussed on making our city a cleaner and greener place to live and we will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who thinks it is okay to illegally dump rubbish wherever they please.

"AI-enabled SMART cameras will make it easier for our enforcement team to identify those who commit this environmental crime while funding will also help provide infrastructure to protect our targeted spaces. This will help build on the success of our Shop a Tipper campaign, which has already helped reduce fly-tipping by 50% in the areas we have targeted."

Cheshire East Council will also be providing handheld devices to street enforcement officers for remote working, helping to increase the time officers can spend on the streets and improve engagement with the community.