Julia Lopez MP has welcomed the next steps to crack down on litter, graffiti, and fly-tipping as part of Anti-Social Behaviour Week.
Last week, Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow MP, confirmed that the upper limit for on-the spot fines for litter, graffiti and fly-tipping are set to rise as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. Environmental crimes like littering and fly-tipping are cynical and opportunistic, damaging wildlife and nature, creating eyesores and ruining our enjoyment of the great outdoors. The new upper limit to fines will deter those who harm our public spaces and ensure that those who continue to offend face the consequences.
The fines will increase as follows:
- The maximum amount those caught fly-tipping could be fined will increase from £400 to £1,000
- The maximum amount those who litter or graffiti could be fined will increase from £150 to £500
- The maximum amount those who breach their household waste duty of care could be fined will increase from £400 to £600
In addition to increasing the upper limit on fines, last week, the government launched a consultation on ringfencing the receipts from FPNs for litter and fly-tipping to fund local authorities’ enforcement and clean-up activities, such as spending the money raised from fining criminals on further enforcement officers. The consultation seeks to understand more about how FPN receipts are currently spent and what the impacts of restricting the spending of these receipts to a set list of enforcement and clean-up functions would be.
Mrs Lopez supports the Government’s efforts to tackle waste crime, building on last year’s plans to tackle industrial fly-tipping and illegal waste exports. Mrs Lopez had first highlighted with the Government the blight that fly-tipping causes Havering and it’s particular exposure to this issue, by virtue of being at the edge of London, soon after her election in 2017 and again during a debate in 2018. Mrs Lopez had called for an increase in the penalties Council’s could issue to offenders and welcomes that they have now more than doubled.
