Paxman criticises ‘inept’ fly-tipping policy for lack of enforcement

JEREMY PAXMAN has accused the Government of being “appallingly inept” at tackling fly-tipping, as figures showed less is being done to protect the environment than ever before.

Environment Agency enforcement notices, used to target major breaches of regulation including fly-tipping and water pollution, are at the lowest level since 2013, as far as the data go back.

The agency issued just 61 notices in 2018-19, compared with 200 in 2012-13, according to data from campaign group Unchecked UK.

The number of recorded fly-tipping incidents has reached its highest in a decade, with nearly 3,000 every day in 2018-19, at a cost to taxpayers of around £57 million. But the number of warning letters issued by English local authorities has fallen by 60 per cent since 2010.

John Read, the founder of campaign group Clean Up Britain said there had been only one successful prosecution for fly-tipping in 2018. “The Environment Agency is fundamentally failing in its duty to prosecute fly-tippers,” he said. “It’s a Conservative government talking tough and acting weak.”

Responsibility for clearing up and controlling fly-tipping falls between the Environment Agency and local authorities. The agency has the power to serve enforcement notices requiring that businesses rectify any breaches of environmental law. The notices can be followed by prosecution.

Former Newsnight presenter Paxman, a patron of Clean Up Britain, wrote to the chair of the Defra select committee earlier this month to call for an inquiry into the issue and for reforms of the Government approach to fly-tipping. In a letter co-signed by Mr Read, he said Defra had been “appallingly inept and relentlessly incompetent” at tackling littering and fly-tipping.

The Unchecked UK charity highlighted cuts to enforcement bodies over the last decade, which Emma Rose, its director, said were “staggering”.