§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's policy on fly-tipping on forest land is(a) generally and (b) where it is owned by the City of London Corporation; what her policy is in cases where it is her opinion that (i) a local authority and (ii) the Environment Agency should make greater efforts to remove fly-tipped rubbish from forest land; and if she will make a statement.[98163]
§ Mr. MeacherFly tipping is the same offence no matter where it occurs and the Government do not have different policies on clearing fly tipped waste from different types of land. Powers are provided to both local authorities and the Environment Agency under Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to allow them to clear fly tipped waste and to recover the costs of doing so from either the perpetrators of the crime or the occupants of the land unless they can demonstrate that they did not knowingly allow or permit the fly tipping to take place.
The circumstances in which (i) the local authority and (ii) the Environment Agency should clear the waste are set out in the fly tipping protocol which has been agreed between the Local Government Association and the agency. Under the protocol, local authorities deal with fly tipping of non-special waste, and the agency deals with fly tipping of special/ hazardous waste.
88WThe Government are keen to do more to empower both local authorities and the agency to deal with fly tipping on all forms of land, since we recognise that it is a growing anti-social problem. We are currently considering bringing forward changes to legislation in consultation with other Government Departments, the local government associations and the agency.