Written question WQ93593
- Asked by
- Janet Finch-SaundersConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 5 days
Question
What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to increasing the fines on individuals for littering and fly-tipping in Wales?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Enforcement action forms part of a holistic approach to tackling littering and fly-tipping which integrates prevention, collaboration and partnership working with stakeholders and citizens.
There are a number of factors that should be considered in relation to the level of fines imposed. These include the ability to pay and the proportionality of higher fine levels in respect of low level environmental offences. Accordingly, we currently encourage Local Authorities to fully utilise the range of existing enforcement tools available to them for dealing with littering and fly-tipping.
We introduced the Household Waste Duty of Care (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2019 and The Unauthorised Deposit of Waste (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2017, to allow enforcement agencies to deal more efficiently with small scale, low-level fly-tipping offences.