Lib Dems reveal 200,000 flytipping reports but only 45 passed to prosecutors

By Lucy Ashton

Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie has called for increased fines for those who dispose of their waste illegally after research by his party revealed that despite more than 200,000 reports of fly-tipping were reported to local councils in the past three years, just 45 were referred to the Procurator Fiscal.

Freedom of information requests submitted by Scottish Liberal Democrats to local authorities revealed:

• 207,960 flytipping incidents were reported between 2019/20 and 2021/22,
• Just 2,467 fixed penalty notices were issued,
• Glasgow City Council reported the highest number of incidents with 67,219 but issued just 209 fines.
• Only six of the local authorities had passed cases to the Procurator Fiscal and only one (East Dunbartonshire) had obtained a conviction.

Mr Rennie said: “Littering might as well be legal under this SNP government. From remote beauty spots to busy cities, these figures show that flytipping is a blight on our beautiful country. Not only that but it can prove catastrophic for animals, plants and soil.

“The pandemic and the bin strikes disrupted refuse collections but there is also a fundamental unfairness in the present system, which sees farmers and other owners left with the responsibility for clearing up waste which has been dumped on their properties.

“We need to see local authorities using the powers at their disposal to clamp down on this disgusting behaviour and ensure that repeat offenders especially feel the full force of the law.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats also want to see increased support for farmers and those who bear the brunt of flytipping to help them with the clear up costs. This should use the proceeds of a new restitution order which hits offenders’ pockets hard. This could see courts able to require a contribution from offenders to a new national fund available to help victims.”