Councils should be required to use outsourced firms if they fail to enforce litter and fly-tipping laws, a think-tank has suggested.
The proposal from liberal conservatism think-tank Bright Blue form part of its suggestions to stem the rising tide of fly-tipping across England, which increased by 18% between 2018 and 2021.
Bright Blue also suggested tasking the new Office for Environmental Protection with inspecting local authorities to check how well they enforce litter and fly-tipping laws – and mandating the use of third-party firms for enforcement in underperforming areas.
According to the think-tank, in 2018, the 73 local authorities that employed third-party enforcement services to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued an average of 2,940 fines each per year.
By comparison, the 230 local authorities that did not employ third-party enforcement services to issue FPNs issued an average of 157 each per year.
Bright Blue chief executive Ryan Shorthouse said: ‘This really is a major public policy problem, causing significant economic, environmental and social problems to communities across the country.’
