Fly-tipping penalty hike comes after it was cheaper to dump rubbish than hire a skip

The council discussed the decision at its cabinet meeting on Thursday morning.

Under its previous policy the council reduced the cost of a penalty for fly-tipping from a maximum of £400 to £200 for those who paid early – within 10 days of receiving the penalty.

That price has now been raised to £350 – under a 'strong leader decision' mechanism, which allows the leader of the council, Councillor Shaun Davies, to bring in the change without a vote from cabinet.

Councillor Davies told Thursday's cabinet meeting it was a power he used sparingly, but that it had been right to raise the cost of the penalty – and was a move that was backed by borough residents.

He said that the previous reduced punishment had not made sense because it allowed some people pay less for fly-tipping than they would for hiring a skip to deal with the problem.

Councillor Davies said: "This decision relates to fixed penalty notices. Myself, Richard (Overton – deputy leader of the council), and other were quite struck by the fact that under our current policy the rules if you paid a fixed penalty notice within 10 days then the fine you paid to the council would be reduced quite significantly."

He added: "If you looked at market research it was cheaper to dump the stuff, pay the reduced fine, than it was to hire a skip."

A report considered by the council said it had investigated thousands of fly-tipping incidents since the start of last year – with hundreds of warning letters and fixed penalties issued.

It stated: "Since January 2022 the team have investigated approximately 3,500 fly tips, issued 138 fixed penalty notices and issued over 270 warning letters for fly tipping.

"This focus, including partnership working with town and parish councils via the Community Action Teams as well as the Building Safer & Stronger Communities programme has seen an overall reduction of 43 per cent in fly tipping since April 2021."

It added: "The current discounted fixed penalty notice associated with fly-tipping is no longer fit for purpose. On review of the approach taken by neighbouring local authorities and relevant legislation, the council does not need to offer a reduced amount for early payment. Resident feedback and research has suggested that the current early payment fee is insufficient to sufficiently deter fly-tipping when compared to other methods of disposal such as skip hire."

Councillor Davies said that the authority would also be writing to the government to ask it to lift the cap on fixed penalties – which currently stands at £400.

He said: "I think it is absolutely bizarre that the government caps councils on fly-tipping at £400. Why can't we as a council charge the cost of enforcement, the cost of the clean up and a deterrent mechanism, and use that as a deterrent?"