Issue - meetings

The Chair of the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group, Councillor Matthew Dormer, presented the group’s final report for the Executive Committee’s consideration.

Members were informed that the review had been completed over a period of two years.  During this time, there had been a change to the membership of the Task Group, which had been launched following the submission of a Motion on the subject by Councillor Sid Khan at a Council meeting.

The remit of the Task Group had been:

·             To review the current rates of fly tipping and bulky waste collections in the Borough.

·             To assess how collection rates in the Borough compared to other local authority areas and to identify how those Councils managed their fly tipping and bulky waste collection services.

·             To review the Council’s current approach to communicating with the public about how the authority responded to fly tipping and promoted the Bulky Waste Collection service.

·             To identify any actions that could be taken to reduce fly tipping and improve Bulky Waste collection services, taking into account the financial and legal implications of any proposals.

The Executive Committee was advised that the review had coincided with a change to the Council’s arrangements for tackling fly tipping.  In 2024, the Council had agreed that Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) should take on responsibility for environmental enforcement, including in respect of fly tipping. 

The Council’s Bulky Waste Collection Service was well used and demand was increasing.  The Executive Committee was asked to note that the Council’s charge for using the service was relatively cheap, particularly compared to equivalent services provided by private sector organisations.  The suggestion was made that this should be highlighted in communications promoting the service in order to encourage greater uptake.

Fly tipping was a challenging issue for the Council to address.  The group had learned that there were a number of hot spots across the Borough where fly tipping tended to be more prevalent.  In more rural parts of the Borough, trade waste was more likely to be the subject of fly tipping whilst domestic waste tended to be more prevalent in residential areas.

At the end of the review, the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group had concluded that WRS should be invited to provide a bi-annual update to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the subject of fly tipping data and enforcement work in the Borough.  This recommendation had been approved by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at a meeting held on 7^th July 2025.  As the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had the power to determine items to be added to the Committee’s work programme, no decision was required from the Executive Committee on this subject.  However, due to the importance of the subject and in recognition of the group’s hard work, the Task Group’s final report and findings were being presented for the Executive Committee’s consideration.

Following the presentation of the report, Members discussed the group’s findings and in so doing commented that they were aware of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30