Local authorities have today gained greater powers to tackle fly-tipping and litter, as the first raft of measures in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act comes into force.

From this Tuesday, 7 June fly-tipping will become an arrestable offence, with the most serious cases resulting in a maximum £50,000 fine or five years imprisonment.

Those caught illegally dumping waste will also no longer be able to use the defence of 'acting under employer's instructions'.

The new hard-line approach underpins the Government's commitment to tackle fly-tipping, as new figures showed that an incident is occurring every 35 seconds in the UK.

The Act also reminds people that chewing gum and cigarette butts are litter, with penalties accordingly.

Local Environment Minister, Ben Bradshaw, said: "Gum droppers and smokers chucking away cigarette butts can be given on the spot fines of £50, which will soon go up to £75. So why risk being fined when
it's so easy just to pop the butt or your gum in the bin?"

He explained that the littering offences have also been extended to include all open spaces - rivers, lakes, ponds and private property - in the past it was not an offence to drop litter on other people's property.

"The new rules will give Local Authorities more power to tackle
environment crime, and make everyone think about the environment
around them. So I hope they will use these new powers to deter people
from dropping anything, anywhere at any time."

In addition to litter and fly-tipping, the parts of the act that come into force today give extra powers for Local Authorities to deal with the sale or repair of vehicles on the road as part of a business and fly-posting.

Mr Bradshaw added that he hoped to bring the majority of the remaining measures of the Act in to force by April 2006.

"People want to live in a clean, pleasant environment, but we all have to play our part in ensuring that is what we achieve. Hopefully the new Act will see a change in mindset, improvements in our local environment, and pride restored to our communities."

Further information is available on the Defra website at
www.defra.gsi.gov.uk/environment/localenv/legbill/index.htm

Notes 

1. The text of the Act is available at:
www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2005/20050016.htm

2. Defra has produced a guidance for practitioners that is on the
CNEA website
(http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/leqbill/index.htm)

3. Further information on Local Environmental Quality is available
from the LEQ website
(http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/index.htm)

4. The Act:

Measures commencing 7 June 2005

Nuisance parking
* creates two new offences to help local authorities deal with nuisance parking: offering for sale two or more vehicles, or repairing a vehicle on the road as part of a business.

Litter
* makes it an offence to drop litter anywhere, including private land and rivers, ponds and lakes;
* confirms that cigarette butts and discarded chewing gum are litter.

Advertisements
* strengthens the legislation to make it harder for beneficiaries of fly posting to evade prosecution;

Waste
* amends provisions for dealing with fly-tipping by:
- removing the defence of acting under employer's instructions
- increasing the penalties
* introduces an enabling power to develop new regulations to require site waste management plans for construction and demolition projects
* increasing tthe maximum penalty for fly-tipping to £50,000 or 5 years imprisonment on indictment

Noise
* gives local authorities greater flexibility in dealing with noise nuisance.

Miscellaneous
* increases the penalty for various offences relating to pollution

Measures still to be commenced.

Crime and Disorder
* requires local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to take anti-social behaviour affecting the local environment into account in developing crime and disorder reduction strategies.
* gives local authorities new powers to deal with alleyways affected by anti-social behaviour.

Fixed Penalty Notices (Fines)
* makes greater use of fixed penalties as an alternative to prosecution, in most cases giving local authorities the flexibility to set their own rates;
* gives parish councils the power to issue fixed penalties for litter, graffiti, fly posting and dog offences;

Nuisance and Abandoned Vehicles
* gives local authorities the power to remove abandoned cars from the streets immediately;

Litter
* gives local authorities new powers (litter clearing notices) to require businesses and individuals to clear litter from their land;
* strengthens existing powers for local authorities to require local businesses to help clear up litter they generate (street litter control notices);
* enables local authorities to restrict the distribution of flyers, hand-outs and pamphlets that can end up as litter;

Graffiti and fly-posting
* extends graffiti removal notices (as introduced by the Anti-social

Behaviour Act 2003) to include fly-posting;
* improves local authorities powers to tackle the sale of spray paints to children;
* enables local authorities to recover the costs of removing illegal posters.

Waste
* amends provisions for dealing with fly-tipping by:
- enabling local authorities and the Environment Agency to recover their investigation and clear-up costs
- extending provisions on clear up to the landowner in the absence of the occupier.
* gives local authorities and the Environment Agency the power to issue fixed penalty notices (and, in the case of local authorities,to keep the receipts from such penalties):
- to businesses that fail to produce waste transfer notes
- to waste carriers that fail to produce their registration details or evidence they need to be registered
- for waste left out on the streets (local authority only)
* introduces a more effective system for stop, search and seizure of vehicles used in illegal waste disposal; and enabling courts to require forfeiture of such vehicles
* introduces a new provision covering the waste duty of care and the registration of waste carriers
* repeals the divestment provisions for waste disposal functions to provide greater flexibility for local authorities to deliver waste management services in the most sustainable way
* reforms the recycling credits scheme to provide increased local
flexibility to provide incentives for more sustainable waste management.

Dogs
* replaces dog byelaws with a new, simplified system which will enable local authorities and parish councils to deal with fouling by dogs, ban dogs from designated areas, require dogs to be kept on a lead and restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person.
* gives local authorities sole responsibility for stray dogs (previously this responsibility had been shared between local authorities and the police. The change will come into force only when the transfer of resource has been agreed).

Noise
* gives local authorities new powers to:
- deal with burglar alarms
- impose fixed penalty fines on licensed premises that ignore warnings to reduce excessive noise levels

Architecture and the Built Environment
* puts the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) on a statutory basis.

Miscellaneous
* enables local authorities to recover the costs of dealing with abandoned shopping trolleys from their owners
* extends the list of statutory nuisances to include light pollution and nuisance from insects
* amends the contaminated land appeals process.


Public enquiries 08459 335577;

(7/6/05)