Hefty Litter Fines (only work if they are enforced)
The government has recently upped fines by a long margin for both dropping litter (like crisp packets) to fly-tipping. It’s a good step forward, but will it actually make much of a difference?
Because – it’s illegal now to drop litter. And litter louts are supposed to get fined. Yet look at all the litter on our streets, and canals/rivers clogged with litter for months or even years. So why are these fines not being enacted now?
You can report litter to Fix My Street (these reports are sent to councils – as they are public, there’s a slightly more chance of issues being solved). Or report anonymously to Crimestoppers.
By law, the council must remove litter, no matter who dropped it. So really they should be fining themselves! For private land, they can issue Litter Abatement Orders (and if landowners don’t comply, they can either issue fines or clear it up themselves, and send an invoice).
But things don’t seem to work:
In Jaywick (a deprived town in the constituency of Clacton-on-Sea), mattresses and furniture line the seafront. The local council cite being overwhelmed and budget constraints, and not being legally permitted to clear private property (they could issue litter abatement orders).
When asked why councils don’t clean up litter, they usually say it’s due to budget restraints. But although councils are undoubtedly cash-strapped, in the grand scheme of things, employing say 5 ot 10 full-time staff to pick up litter for clean streets is a worthwhile investment, that would be returned through more tourism and being a nicer safer place to live.
National Highways is responsible for clearing major roadside litter. But Clean Up UK say that they often mow grass verges before clearing up litter, so glass shards fly everywhere. This should be cleared before mowing. Report litter to National Highways.
Plus they say that litter may drift. Say it’s in a field but then drifts onto a railway track. If the railway track is owned by a private company, then they have to stop clearing it and start issuing litter abatement orders. And meanwhile it may drift back on the wind to the field again.
Assuming someone else will clear it up
Near Wigan recently, a massive flytipping pile of rubbish went uncleared for months. It was on private land owned by the Duchy of Lancaster (King Charles). Who had an exemption not to have to clear it up. Despite saying that he would use his power to help communities, the responsibility went back to the taxpayers, as Keir Starmer’s government took responsibility for it.
Despite litter fines, some councils don’t even bother, issuing fewer than 10 litter fines a year. So gives rise to people just dropping litter, not worried about being fined.
In Switzerland, if you drop a crisp packet you’ll be approached by the police to pick it up. And in Japan, nobody drops litter (not even in areas without bins). Litter is taken home (people even carry bottles of water to rinse the pavement, after their dog has pooped).
This is because simply the culture is different. If they don’t pick up litter, someone else will have to. Yet people who complain about rising council tax, are often the very people who are dropping litter, causing taxes to rise.
Before the 1950s, there was no litter in England. It was only after the invention of fast food and plastic that the Keep Britain Tidy campaign began. Today, councils spend around £1 billion in collecting litter, the most common items now being cigarette stubs (people could use pocket ashtray) and disposable vapes (all shops take these back for recycling).
