The latest official statistics covering England show that fly-tipping, largely of household waste, has increased.
Local government dealt with some 1.26 million incidents, an increase of 9pc from the 1.15 million reported the previous year. The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on pavements or roadsides, which saw a rise of 9pc from 427,000 to 463,000. Some 52,000 or around 4pc of total incidents were of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger, which is an increase of 11pc from 47,000 of the year before. Some 69,000 fixed penalty notices were issued in 2024/25, 9pc more than the previous year. However, as a sign of the continuing backlog in the criminal justice system, the total of court fines (typically of larger, more serious cases that merit a larger fine than the penalty notice) fell by 9pc to 1250 from 1,378 the previous year. The average court fine is £539; compared with the average from fixed penalty notices of £626. A mere 13 people were given prison sentences for dumping, lower even than the 28 of the year before, itself a post-covid high.
In terms of fly-tips per thousand people, London sees by far the most fly-tipping by region. Most of the fly-tipping is of the size of a car boot, or a van load.
LGA on sentencing
The Local Government Association (LGA) has complained of offenders in court being given smaller fines than penalty notices, even when offenders are before magistrates after failing to pay a penalty notice. Arooj Shah, Chair of the LGA Neighbourhoods Committee, said: “Fly-tipping is criminal activity that blights communities and costs taxpayers millions of pounds every year. Councils are working hard to investigate and prosecute offenders, but when court fines are lower than fixed penalties, it undermines enforcement and fails to act as a deterrent.
“Sentencing guidelines must be reviewed so that the punishment fits the crime and reflects both the harm caused and the significant work undertaken by enforcement officers.”
Photo by Mark Rowe: fly-tipping on-street near ‘no fly-tipping’ sign, Glasgow.
