Court fines for fly-tipping must be reviewed as they are lower on average than penalties handed out directly by local authorities, councils have said.
It comes after figures showed incidents of illegal waste dumping on public land dealt with by councils in England were up 9% in 2024/25, to a record 1.26 million cases.
The average fine for offenders prosecuted through the courts was £539, which the Local Government Association says is £87 lower than the £626 average fixed penalty notice councils issued for the same offence last year.
The association is calling on the government and sentencing council to urgently review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, warning the lower fines through the courts undermine deterrence, weaken enforcement efforts and leave councils out of pocket after prosecutions.
Larger cases, in which a tipper lorry load or more is dumped on the streets, alleyways, or other public land, cost councils in England £19.3m to clear up last year.
The number of such incidents rose 11% from the previous year to 52,000.
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The LGA said councils were increasingly taking enforcement action against offenders, but taking cases to court when people did not pay fixed penalty notices often required lengthy investigations, high evidence thresholds and significant amounts of staff time.
It said fines being handed down by courts frequently fail to reflect the seriousness of offences or the cost to the public.
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From £1,000 penalty to £80 fine
The LGA highlighted several cases where court fines handed out were lower than the initial penalties issued by councils.
Two offenders in York were fined £300 each by magistrates for waste offences, despite being given fixed penalty notices of £600 and £1,000.
A fly-tipper in Wiltshire who failed to pay a £1,000 fixed penalty was fined a meagre £80 when the case came to court.
In Chelmsford, two offenders were each fined £300 after being prosecuted for fly-tipping – less than the £400 fixed penalties they had received.
Court fines ‘undermine enforcement’
Arooj Shah, chairwoman of the LGA neighbourhoods committee, said: “Fly-tipping is criminal activity that blights communities and costs taxpayers millions of pounds every year.
“Councils are working hard to investigate and prosecute offenders, but when court fines are lower than fixed penalties, it undermines enforcement and fails to act as a deterrent.
“Sentencing guidelines must be reviewed so that the punishment fits the crime and reflects both the harm caused and the significant work undertaken by enforcement officers.”
The Environment Department (Defra) has been contacted for comment.
