Andy Burnham will unveil plans to put more officers on the frontline to seize criminals’ cash, cars and houses to stop them making money from illegal dumping
Andy Burnham has launched a major crackdown on waste criminals who dump “mountains of rubbish” in communities across the UK.
The Prime Minister will on Thursday unveil plans to put more officers on the frontline to seize criminals’ cash, cars and houses to stop them making money from illegal dumping.
Fines for waste offences are set to rise by 16 times from £300 to £5,000, he will also announce. And drones will be better used to root out criminal gangs running illegal waste sites.
Mr Burnham – who is currently on a summer cost-of-living tour around the country – said: “These toxic dumps have blighted communities for too long. I said we would clean them up – and that’s exactly what we’re announcing today.
“The days of making easy money out of waste are over. We’re giving authorities the powers to hunt down the people responsible. We will seize their assets and shut their operations down.
“These mountains of rubbish have been a clear sign to communities that politics hasn’t been working for them or their area. This government is going to tackle the issues that have been ignored by Westminster for too long and bring back hope.”
The new PM picks up the baton from Keir Starmer, who already launched a significant crackdown on waste cowboys when he was PM. Under Mr Starmer’s administration, new legislation was introduced to increase the maximum fine issued by local councils for fly-tipping to £5,000, as well as an enhanced 33-strong drone squad to track down illegal dumps from the air.
Under the latest crackdown, Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued by the Environment Agency are set to rise from £300 to £5,000. Offences could include the unauthorised disposal of waste or failing to treat it correctly.
Mr Burnham, who entered Downing Street last month after standing down as Greater Manchester Mayor, will also empower mayors and council leaders to lead efforts in their local areas, with a reformed partnership between national and regional agencies.
West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester will be the first areas with new region-led approaches to waste crime.
Alongside the enforcement package, the government is funding the clean-up of three more of the country’s most serious illegal waste sites. They are expected to include Power Station Road, Isle of Sheppey, Kent; Aymer Close, Runnymede, Surrey; and Midland Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Together, the sites contain around 22,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste and are harming an estimated 2,900 families. Sites were prioritised on scale, risk to nearby communities, environmental damage, and links to persistent non-compliance and organised waste crime.
Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: “This isn’t just about people dumping rubbish. Large-scale waste sites are fuelled by serious, organised crime, and we need to use the full force of the law to tackle it and root it out at source.
“Communities have been subjected to horrendous conditions and denied the pride they deserve in the places they call home. This ends now.
“We are cleaning up sites, but we are also stopping the cycle, driving faster prevention and disruption, better intelligence, and stronger coordination across the system.”