Coventry City Council is backing a national call for sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping to be urgently reviewed.
New figures show that court fines for the offence are often lower than the penalties councils can issue directly.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is calling on the Government and the Sentencing Council to urgently review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, after new figures show that offenders prosecuted through the courts are often fined less than the penalties councils can issue directly.
The Local Government Association is calling for:
- A review of sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping
- Court fines that consistently exceed fixed penalty notices
- Tougher sentences for repeat and organised offenders
- Better recovery of prosecution and investigation costs
Because of some of the challenges highlighted in the sentencing process Coventry City Council often pushes for fixed penalty fines – which results in a good repayment rate.
Cllr Abdul Salam Khan, Deputy Leader of Coventry City Council, said: “We are supportive of the campaign and have recently earmarked more investments to tackle and deter people from fly-tipping.
“The challenge is that the courts currently take so long and the fines are often low and that’s why we have better results by issuing penalty fines. Costly prosecutions do not deliver justice for communities.
“Stronger sentencing would definitely help protect local neighbourhoods and support efforts to improve pride in place.”
The latest data shows that the average court fine for fly-tipping is £539, compared with a fixed penalty notice of £626 on average that councils can issue.
Fly-tipping costs councils more than £19.3 million a year to clear up large-scale incidents, with 1.26 million incidents recorded in England in 2024/25 alone.
In addition to clean-up costs, councils invest significant officer time and legal resource in investigating offences and bringing cases to court.
Despite this effort, sentencing outcomes often fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime or the impact on public spaces.
Cllr Khan added: “Fly-tipping is a serious criminal offence that damages our local environment and takes valuable time and resources away from other frontline services.
“When court fines are lower than the penalties councils can issue, it sends the wrong message and weakens our ability to deter offenders.”