Fixed penalty charges to increase
Forest of Dean District Council is to increase fixed penalty charges for the criminal behaviour of fly-tipping and people who litter or fly-post, helping to protect the environment and to keep communities across the Forest of Dean safe.
Cabinet Member for Thriving Communities, Cllr Jackie Dale said:
“The Forest of Dean is a beautiful place to live, work and bring up our families. We are fortunate to have an excellent waste collection service and our friendly district waste depo near Coleford.
“These services help us dispose of our waste as efficiently and effectively as possible. Unfortunately, we do suffer from people and businesses disposing of waste illegally.
“Our Street Warden and Counter Fraud Enforcement teams work incredibly hard year-round to identify those responsible for littering and fly-tipping and use the evidence they find to help prosecute and issue fines to deter others from doing this in the future.
“We have decided to increase the fines for those who break littering and fly-tipping laws to keep our communities and the environment here in the Forest of Dean safe, clean and tidy.
“If any resident finds a suspected fly-tip, please get in touch with our Street Warden Team so that it can be investigated quickly and correctly.
“Help us keep our Forest of Dean a place to be proud of and a beautiful and safe place to live for all.”
The Government has laid a statutory instrument increasing the upper limits for various fixed penalty notices (FPNs). This means that in the Forest of Dean, the maximum amount those caught fly-tipping could be fined will increase from £400 to £1,000. The maximum amount those who litter or graffiti could be fined will increase from £150 to £500. The maximum amount those who breach their household waste duty of care could be fined will increase from £400 to £600.
The Council has the option to offer a lesser charge for a Fixed Penalty Notice that encourages early payment and avoids sending cases to court that takes up large amounts of resource in officer time.
The Fixed penalty notices that the Council uses remain appropriate for small scale fly-tipping, rather than larger scale deposits which continue to be dealt with through the court system.
Residents who find illegally discarded waste should contact the Council’s Street Warden team where it can then be investigated correctly. Details of this can be found here: https://www.fdean.gov.uk/environment/fly-tipping/
For details on how to properly dispose of waste, please see the Council’s dedicated webpages: https://www.fdean.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/getting-rid-of-large-items/
Contact Information
Forest of Dean Communications Team
Notes to editors
The tables below show the current amount of fine levels with the proposed penalties. Please note that fly-tipping is in a separate table due to a sliding scale being proposed.
|
Offence |
Existing Fine |
Fine with Discount for early payment |
New fine |
Fine with discount for early payment |
|
Fly-tipping |
£400 |
£200 |
See table below |
n/a |
|
Household Duty of Care |
£400 |
£200 |
£600 |
£300 |
|
Littering |
£75 |
£50 |
£150 |
£100 |
|
Distribution of printed matter |
No designation |
No designation |
£150 |
£100 |
Fly-tipping sliding scale:
|
Size of fly-tipped waste |
Proposed FPN Level |
Discounted FPN Level for early payment |
|
Between a single bin bag and up to four bags of waste (household and commercial) |
£500 |
£250 |
|
More than four bin bags, up to a standard car boot load or a large piece of furniture or appliance (two-seater sofa or fridge freezer). |
£750 |
£450 |
|
An amount of waste that a small van or tipper vehicle would need to transport |
£1000 |
£750 |