Agenda item

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 a number of locations in the Borough where fly tipping tended to occur relatively frequently.  It was noted that the report contained a lot of useful data pertaining to fly tipping rates and Members commented that this would help inform officers’ efforts to address the problem.  Members highlighted that tackling fly tipping in the Borough was a priority for the Council.

The suggestion was made that action needed to be taken to educate the public about the impact of fly tipping as well as the availability of the Bulky Waste Collection service.  It was noted that action could be taken to encourage and enhance community pride in order to try to tackle rates of domestic fly tipping.  However, Members noted that it was unlikely that there would ever be a situation where no fly tipping was occurring.

Concerns were raised about the practices of some private organisations that charged to collect trade and domestic waste.  Whilst Members acknowledged that there were a lot of legitimate operators, it was also highlighted that some organisations charged to collect bulky items which they then disposed of in inappropriate manners creating further issues with fly tipping.

Reference was made to the information included in the report which recorded that a Fly Tipping Strategy would be developed for the Council.  The suggestion was made that this needed to be accompanied by effective communications that would inform and educate people on the subject of fly tipping.  Confirmation was provided by Officers that a Fly Tipping Strategy was in the process of being developed and the associated communications were being considered as part of this process.  Officers were also aiming to review the available data when developing the strategy.

The potential impact of the cost of living crisis on demand for the Bulky Waste Collection service and fly tipping rates in the Borough was briefly discussed.  On the one hand, concerns were raised that the cost of living crisis may be deterring some residents from using the Bulky Waste Collection service due to individual and family financial pressures.  On the other hand, Members noted that the charge for the Bulky Waste Collection service provided by the Council was relatively cheap and the suggestion was made that if somebody could afford to replace a bulky piece of furniture, then they could afford to pay for their bulky domestic waste to be collected.

In concluding the discussions, on behalf of the Executive Committee, the Leader thanked the members of the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group for their hard work and report, noting that this would be a useful document that could help to inform the content of the Council’s future Fly Tipping Policy.

RESOLVED that

the Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group’s final report and the response of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to this report be noted.