Purpose

To agree the revised Fly tipping Enforcement
Policy to address the recent Government change to increase the
upper limits of Fixed Penalty Notices for Fly-tipping and Failure
in Household Duty of Care and review future delegation
route.

Content

The Buckinghamshire Fly-Tipping Enforcement Policy
was adopted by Cabinet in April 2020. The Policy was reviewed
periodically in order to remain appropriate to meet the necessary
compliance requirements. Cabinet was requested to agree to the
revised Fly-tipping Enforcement Policy 2023 (Option 2a) with two
key changes:
a)     
An increase in Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
limits
b)     
New criteria to issue an FPN to an
offender based on admissions being made.
 
The amendments were highlighted in Bold and Italics
in the revised Policy, which was attached at Appendix A to the
Cabinet report.
 
The Government had confirmed the desire for local
authorities to take a more robust approach to tackle waste crime
and toughen existing deterrent measures to change behaviours. The
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
announced an increase in statutory Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) upper
limits effective from 31st July 2023, which supported DEFRA’s
wider work to tackle waste crime. Local authorities had the freedom
to determine fixed penalty rates within the limits set out below.
The FPN maximum levels had been confirmed as:
·      
Fly-Tipping – increase from
£400 to £1,000.
·      
Failure in Householder Duty of Care
– increase from £400 to £600.
and
·      
Littering – increase from
£150 to £500. Changes to the litter FPN Upper limit
were not being considered as part of this report. A Littering
Enforcement Strategy was being progressed and a separate report
would consider appropriate litter enforcement.
 
Should the recommendations in the Cabinet report be
agreed, and following the call-in period, the Fly Tipping
Enforcement Policy 2023 would become effective. Public
communications were planned for December 2023 and January
2024.  Published policy documents and
the Council website would be updated to replace the existing 2020
policy to reflect the amendments.
 
Members agreed that recommendation 3 in the report
should be removed as any proposed changes to the enforcement policy
should be considered and agreed by Cabinet in line with the
Councils ‘Zero Tolerance’ position in respect to fly
tipping. 
 
RESOLVED –
 

1.    
That the revised Buckinghamshire
Council Fly-Tipping Enforcement Policy 2023 be AGREED and ADOPTED,
which sets out criteria to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) to an
offender based on admissions being made.

 

2.    
That the
revised FPN upper limits approach (Option 2a) be AGREED and
ADOPTED, to address the recent Government change to increase the
upper limits of FPNs for fly-tipping and failure in householder
duty of care.