Council set to approve use of Fixed Penalty Notices for fly tipping offences

A new penalty for those found to have dumped waste illegally is set to be given the green light in Flintshire.

Councillors will be asked to approve the use of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for low level fly tipping offences.

An amendment to the Environmental Protection Act, now gives all local authorities the power to deal with fly tipping incidents using FPN’s

It means any householder who fails to find a licensed carrier for their waste, and whose waste ends up being fly-tipped or illegally disposed could face a fine of £200.

Flintshire Council says it investigates around 1,000 fly tipping reports every year, the vast majority are small scale items such as black bags and bulky household items which have been dumped.

Historically councils were limited to progressing the cases through the courts for prosecution, regardless of their scale.

Gathering evidence and preparing court papers is time consuming and costly with the number of successful prosecutions relatively low the council says.

“Where it is in the public interest to do so, the authority may give offenders an opportunity to avoid prosecution and subsequent court appearance by the payment of a FPN.” A council report published ahead of  next weeks Cabinet states.

Local authorities can set the amount of the fly-tipping FPN at a level between £150 and £400, with a default of £200 if no amount is specified.

The proposed cost of the FPN in Flintshire will be £200, with a discount of £80 for early payment, in line with other local authorities in Wales.

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Countryside, Councillor Carolyn Thomas, said:

“The Council receives and investigates around 1,000 fly tipping reports every year.

New legislation now gives all local authorities the power to deal with these incidents using an FPN, which will save time and money with no need to gather evidence and prepare court papers.

It also allows offenders the opportunity to avoid prosecution.”

Evidence will still be required to issue an FPN in the same way it is needed prosecute fly tippers through the courts.

Suspected offenders, where implicating evidence is found, will be requested to attend a formal interview.

“Interviews will be carried out in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice.

Only trained and accredited Officers will undertake these interviews.” The council report says.

The council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve then use of FPN’s  at next week’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 22 January.