Wyre Forest District Council backs call for tougher fly-tipping sentences as court fines fall below council penalties
News release issued:
Wyre Forest District Council is backing a national call for sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping to be urgently reviewed, after new figures show that court fines for the offence are often lower than the penalties councils can issue directly.
The latest data shows that the average court fine for fly-tipping is £539, compared with a fixed penalty notice of £626 on average that councils can issue. The council says this undermines deterrence and means that costly prosecutions do not deliver justice for communities.
Fly-tipping costs councils more than £19.3 million a year to clear up large-scale incidents, with 1.26 million incidents recorded in England in 2024/25 alone. In addition to clean-up costs, councils invest significant officer time and legal resource in investigating offences and bringing cases to court.
Despite this effort, sentencing outcomes often fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime or the impact on public spaces.
Councillor Nathan Desmond, Wyre Forest District Council’s Cabinet Member for Operational Services said:
“Fly-tipping is a serious criminal offence that damages our local environment and takes valuable time and resources away from other frontline services. Last financial year there were 831 incidents in the district.
“When court fines are lower than the penalties councils can issue, it sends the wrong message and weakens our ability to deter offenders.”
Wyre Forest District Council is supporting the Local Government Association’s call for:
- A review of sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping
- Court fines that consistently exceed fixed penalty notices
- Tougher sentences for repeat and organised offenders
- Better recovery of prosecution and investigation costs
Stronger sentencing would help protect local neighbourhoods and support efforts to improve pride in place.