Agenda item

Report attached.

Members considered a report of Councillor Stewart Eaves, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, seeking approval to increase the fines for breaching section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (fly tipping on public land) and for breaching section 46(1), (3)(c),or (d), or (4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (not using the correct waste receptacles when disposing of waste which was a section 46 requirement)

Councillor Eaves gave a brief introduction to the report noting that the proposals had taken some 12 months to finalise and outlining the increases to the fines for the different types of breaches indicated.

Councillor Munsif Dad welcomed the proposals.  Councillor Pritchard spoke about the impacts of fly tipping on certain wards and noted that despite the best efforts of the Waste Services Team to clean up after these incidents, illegally dumped litter reappeared on almost a daily basis.  Councillor Fisher also welcomed the new charges and enquired about how the changes were being communicated to the public.  Councillor Eaves responded that he would work with the Council’s Communications Manager to provide some appropriate publicity.  Members noted that there had been a short feature on the BBC regional news yesterday, which had highlighted increased penalties in both Hyndburn and Sefton Councils.

Councillor Zak Khan confirmed his support for penalising offenders and for publicising the increased fines in order to deter potential offenders.  However, he was concerned that criminals would find a way to circumvent these measures.  Before issuing fixed penalty notices, first the Council would need to collect sufficient evidence.  He agreed that the Waste Services Team did a good job, but asked if more support could be made available, for example:

• There were only 2 enforcement officers for the Borough.  Should additional staffing be provided?
• Where did the fines income go and could this be used in a way which deterred further fly tipping?
• As noted at Minute 280 above, Waste Service currently had a £61k underspend.  Hyndburn residents might prefer this to be spent.  Could this be utilised to deter fly tipping?

Councillor Eaves responded that the controlling administration would continue to consider a wide range of options to deter fly tipping.  He had already looked into the possible employment of another enforcement officer, but recruitment was likely to be problematic due to uncertainties around local government reorganisation.  The Leader of the Council confirmed that any income received from fines would be invested back into the Waste Servies Team.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

Hyndburn Borough Council had for many years had a proactive approach to the waste and recycling collection service provided to Borough residents.

Recycling was important because it conserved natural resources, saved energy, reduced pollution and reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill or incinerated.

The Council’s Waste Services Team was the most efficient district Council in Lancashire for the collection of dry recyclate (glass, cans, plastic, paper and carboard) having a 26% recycling rate for those items.

In addition to collecting glass, cans, plastic, paper and carboard directly from residents, the Council also collected green waste, batteries and textiles.  On 1^st April 2026 the Council would start to collect food waste directly from residents adding another recycling stream.

Hyndburn also had a free bulky waste collection service whereby residents either rang the Council to book a collection or booked online.  The Council would collect bulky waste items directly from residents’ properties and collected items such as sofas, arm chairs, mattresses, fridges, freezers, electrical items, metal items and wooden items.  They were collected because bulky waste items could be recycled to differing degrees.

During financial year 2024/25 Waste Services had handled 9,346 bulky waste jobs and collected 16,889 bulky waste items for free directly from residents’ properties.  However, despite the bulky waste service being available during the same period (i.e. from April 2024 to March 2025) there had been 2,631 reported incidents of fly tipping in Hyndburn.  While this number had been a 10% reduction of incidents from the previous year, it was still too many.

The 2,631 incidents varied from single black bags to loads tipped off a vehicle.  However, in general there were two main types of fly tipping in the Borough.  Firstly, dumped items or black bags full of waste being left in back streets, and secondly fly tipped loads tipped off the back of vehicles.

Waste enforcement staff went out on a daily basis to deal with fly tipping and waste items being dumped in black bags.  During the financial year 2024/25 waste enforcement staff had issued 1,159 advice notices, 512 targeted letters, 292 warning letters and issued 87 Fixed Penalty Notices.  The current level of fixed penalty notice (FPN) issued in Hyndburn was £75 for a breach of a section 46 requirement of the EPA 1990 (typically leaving waste out in black bags as opposed to using the correct waste receptacles) and £400 for breach of section 33 (1)(a)of the EPA 1990 (larger fly tipping incidents).

However, despite each household having waste and recycling bins which were collected regularly and a free bulky waste collection service which would collect waste directly from residents’ properties there were still a significant number of fly tipping incidents in the Borough.  It was believed that the level of FPN was inadequate to act as a deterrent to stop people from not adhering to the law.

The Council had some discretion as to what level the FPN was set at and since 1990 when the EPA was first introduced the upper level of fine had increased.  It was therefore proposed that the Council increased its current level for FPNs as follows:

(i)    That for breaching a section 46 requirement of the EPA 1990 the FPN value be increased to £80 per incident (the maximum amount allowed);

(ii)   That for breaching section 33 (1)(a) of the EPA 1990 the FPN value be increased to £1,000 per incident (the maximum amount allowed)

Alternative Options Considered and Reasons for Rejection

To leave the FPN value at their current levels.  This was not recommended as the current levels were not acting as a deterrent to stop people fly tipping or dumping waste in black bags.

Resolved                                 (1)   That Cabinet notes the report.

(2)   That Cabinet increases the fines for breaches of section 33(1)(a) and section 46 requirements of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990) as set out in Paragraph 3.10 of the report.