Kent warns of soft fly-tipping penalties

The letter was sent to the Association this morning (24 August) and written by councillor Nick Kenton, the chair of the Kent Resource Partnership.

It outlined that the maximum sentence for fly tipping in England at a Magistrates Court is £50,000 and/or a prison sentence of 12 months. At a Crown Court it can be an unlimited fine and/or a prison sentence of up to 5 years.

The Partnership said in the letter than it recently took a forward a “mini-review” to understand the results councils’ have achieved over the last 12 months, once fly tipping cases were at court.

“What was clear was outcomes were far less than the maximum punishments possible,” the Partnership said in the letter

It said that of the 57 cases in 2019/20, only one resulted in a prison sentence (of 20 weeks), most cases received a fine between £100-£499 with only four cases upwards of £2,000 and “there was often low or no clean-up cost charges given to the offender”.

The letter adds: “We appreciate the details of these cases will vary and may have likely be presented differently across Kent but what is clear is the level of enforcement doesn’t seem to do enough to deter offenders from committing waste crime”.

Meeting

The Partnership also asked the Magistrates’ Association to arrange a virtual meeting to discuss the issue, and work together on a number of issues, including:

• Better understand how sentencing on fly tipping is determined with magistrates’ courts within Kent and understand if there are local differences councils ought to factor
• Establish the gaps councils’ need to cover to achieve greater levels of enforcement punishment to fly tipping offenders, particularly those who are part of organised crime groups

“What is clear is fly tipping will always remain an issue until meaningful consequences are handed to offenders,” the letter concluded.

Punishment

Councillor Nick Kenton, chairman of the Kent Resource Partnership said: “Before engaging with the Magistrates’ Association, Kent councils took forward a mini-review to see what levels of punishment were being handed to fly tippers in Kent over the past year.

“We truly believe to stop fly tipping; greater punishment needs to be placed on those who commit these crimes”

Cllr Nick Kenton, chair of the Kent Resource Partnership

“The results showed there was a clear gap on what maximum levels of punishment could be given compared to the actual punishments. We truly believe to stop fly tipping; greater punishment needs to be placed on those who commit these crimes. We hope working together with the Magistrates Association will better equip us to prosecuting fly tippers and keep Kent clean.”

Farm

The National Farmers Union also provided a comment as part of the letter, with a spokesperson saying: “The NFU shares concerns about fly tipping and its impacts on the farming community, who are often victims of this crime. The NFU is of the view that there is a need for effective prosecutions and deterrent sentencing in this area, and supports KRP’s desire for improvements in this area.”