- Waste criminals, fly-tippers and cowboy waste operators to have vehicles seized and crushed
- New technology such as drones and mobile CCTV will used to identify fly-tip vehicles
- Waste cowboys face up to five years in prison under new legislation
Portsmouth MP Stephen Morgan has said a new crackdown on cowboy waste operators will tackle soaring fly-tipping and clean up Portsmouth’s streets, lanes and rural areas.
Councils will work with the police to identify, seize and crush vehicles of waste criminals. Drones and mobile CCTV cameras will be deployed to identify cars and vans belonging to fly-tippers so they can be destroyed.
Ministers have launched a rapid review to slash red tape blocking councils from seizing and crushing vehicles.
Mr Morgan has encouraged local people to fill in Portsmouth Labour’s survey on street cleanliness and rubbish in the city. You can fill in the survey here.
Under new plans fly-tippers will cover the cost of seizing and storing vehicles rather than councils, saving taxpayers money.
In addition, any criminals caught transporting and dealing with waste illegally will now face up to five years in prison under new legislation.
Fly-tipping has skyrocketed by a fifth whilst the number of prosecutions has fallen by the same amount since 2018/19.
The failure to punish these criminals has left our high streets, roads and countryside buried under an avalanche of rubbish.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Portsmouth residents frequently tell me they are sick of seeing litter, fly tipping, graffiti and dog mess blighting our streets.
“As shown by our survey of local people, nowhere near enough is being done locally to tackle this issue.
“That’s why I welcome the Labour Government stepping in to crack down on fly-tipping by punishing those who dump waste, tackling the scourge of waste crime and making our streets cleaner.”
Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed said:
“Waste criminals and fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages have gone unpunished for too long.
“That ends today. The Government is calling time on fly-tipping. I will not stand by while this avalanche of rubbish buries our communities.
“Under the Plan for Change, this Government will seize and crush fly-tippers vans’ to clean up Britain’s streets.”
These measures support the Government’s Plan for Change and will help deliver its key mission of Safer Streets for the public, restoring communities’ faith in efforts to combat anti-social behaviour. Waste crime is trashing communities across the country.
The Environment Agency will also carry out identity and criminal record checks on operators in the sector so there is nowhere to hide for rogue firms.
It will be handed more resources as they will now be able to fund the cost of policing the industry through permits, boosting their powers and cutting costs for taxpayers. The reforms will also give them more power to revoke permits, issue enforcement notices and hefty fines.
