Local MP Robbie Moore has raised serious concerns in Parliament regarding Labour-run Bradford Council's failure to prosecute perpetrators of fly-tipping.
Government statistics reveal that despite over 15,000 incidents of fly-tipping reported by residents in a single year, Bradford Council issued only 86 fixed penalty notices.
This translates to a rate of just 0.0056 fines per incident, ranking Bradford Council 217th out of all local authorities in the country. Mr Moore described this as "completely unacceptable."
The local MP also expressed his dismay upon hearing Labour’s new Minister for the Environment defend this inaction as “not a bad record,” simply because thirteen other councils in the county issued no fixed penalty notices at all.
Mr Moore said:
"No matter how you spin it, just 86 fines issued despite 15,000 incidents of fly-tipping is simply not good enough, and the new government has a duty to hold our local authority to account. This data also comes alongside the disastrous decision to close two of our local household waste and recycling centres, forcing many residents to make a 20-mile round trip just to drop off their waste. While in government, the Conservatives rightly increased the maximum fixed penalty notice significantly from £400 to £1,000. Now, it is clear that Bradford Council needs to start actually using the powers given to them."
