New analysis shows less than 2% of fly-tipping in the East of England receive fines as Sunak lets litter louts “get away with it”

Labour has pledged to “clean up Britain” as it was revealed that less than 2% of the 78,000 fly tipping incidents in the Eastern Region had received fines last year.

Labour argues that this, combined with the 705 of police in neighbourhood roles and/or PCSOs lost in East Anglia renders Sunak’s pledge on antisocial behaviour unenforceable.

In the last year, there have been an astonishing 78,684 in Eastern England, yet just 1,310 fines were handed out.

According to new analysis from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ figures, the number of fly tipping incidents across England has skyrocketed by half over the last 10 years from 714,637 in 2012 to 1,082,673 in 2022. 

In the last year, this equates to an average of 123 incidents an hour across England, or almost 3,000 per day.

These figures show widespread dumping of large fridges, old furniture, carpets and waste plaguing communities across the country. 

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said: 

"This chaotic Tory party have let antisocial behaviour run rampant and let criminals, vandals and fly-tippers get away with it. 

“There were more than a million fly-tipping incidents on the Conservatives’ watch in the last year, yet the Tories repeatedly failed to implement their own policies and promises.

“Who does Rishi Sunak think is going to enforce any action on antisocial behaviour when the Tories have cut 10,000 neighbourhood police and PCSOs in the last eight years?  

“Labour will take back our streets from those piling misery onto our communities. We’ll put 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat, with tough new powers to crackdown on those who cause havoc on our high streets, and a mission to reverse the collapse in the number of crimes being solved.“

Labour’s Lowestoft Parliamentary Candidate, Jess Asato said:

“People tell me how sick and tired they are of fly tipping and anti-social behaviour which blights their lives and brings our communities down.

That’s why Labour’s pledge to crack down on antisocial behaviour is so important - we need named local police officers who get to know their beat and can work with local residents to stamp out this scourge.

“Vote for change with Labour.”

Notes

Sources:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england

• https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2023

 Neighbourhood officers: FTE officers in neighbourhood roles

Labour’s comprehensive plan to tackle antisocial behaviour includes:

• A new Community Policing Guarantee, including:

• 13,000 neighbourhood police officers & PCSOs to patrol ASB hotspots and resolve community concerns

• Respect Orders, with repeat adult offenders banned from problem areas and forced to clean up their town centres

• Zero-tolerance zones for anti-social behaviour, with new expedited PSPOs in town centres to prevent persistent anti-social activities like street drinking, harassment and littering.

• A national register of private landlords, to deal with landlords failing to tackle ASB in their rented properties.

• A statutory duty for local partners to cooperate to tackle antisocial behaviour.

• National guidelines for local authorities and police forces on data collection.

• Town centre policing plans developed in consultation with the local community, with local residents and retailers involved in agreeing priorities for police in town centres, giving local people a say in how their local area is policed.

In Hertfordshire, the number of PCSOs has gone down by 102 since 2010

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-service-strength-england-and-wales-31-march-2010; https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2023