Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council backs call for tougher fly-tipping sentences as court fines fall below council penalties

The council is backing a national call for sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping to be urgently reviewed, after new figures show that court fines for the offence are often lower than the penalties councils can issue directly.

The latest data shows that the average court fine for fly-tipping is £539, compared with a fixed penalty notice of £626 on average that councils can issue. This undermines deterrence and means that costly prosecutions do not deliver justice for communities.

Fly-tipping costs councils more than £19.3 million a year to clear up large-scale incidents, with 1.26 million incidents recorded in England in 2024/25 alone. In addition to clean-up costs, councils invest significant officer time and legal resource in investigating offences and bringing cases to court.

Despite this effort, sentencing outcomes often fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime or the impact on public spaces.

Councillor Jim Smith, Executive Member for Environment and Resident Services said:

As a council, we strongly echo the Local Government Association’s urgent call to the Government and the Sentencing Council to review the sentencing guidelines for fly-tippers, ensuring the punishment fits the crime.

While Blackburn with Darwen intentionally keeps its Fixed Penalty Notice fees lower than the national average for first time offences, to encourage prompt payment over court action, the broader national picture is highly concerning.

The reality that the average court fine for fly-tipping now falls below the average council penalty completely undermines local enforcement efforts. Taking a fly-tipping case to court demands lengthy investigations and requires meeting high evidential thresholds. The current penalties handed down by magistrates simply fail to reflect the significant time and resources invested by our staff, especially since councils are never guaranteed to recover their full costs from the courts.

Ultimately, this sentencing gap fails to deter repeat and organised offenders, inevitably leading to further fly-tipping. This is not only a blight on our local community but also generates a massive clean-up bill that our council taxpayers are forced to pay.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is supporting the Local Government Association’s call for:

• A review of sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping
• Court fines that consistently exceed fixed penalty notices
• Tougher sentences for repeat and organised offenders
• Better recovery of prosecution and investigation costs

Stronger sentencing would help protect local neighbourhoods and support efforts to improve pride in place.

Notes to editors

• Fly-tipping is a criminal offence.
• In 2024/25, councils in England dealt with 1.26 million fly-tipping incidents.
• Fly-tipping costs councils over £19.3 million annually to clear up large-scale incidents.
• Fixed penalty notices are a civil enforcement tool; court action requires.