Drivers could get licence points for fly-tipping

Drivers could receive penalty points on their licences if they are caught fly-tipping - leading to a potential ban from the roads - under new government proposals.

In a statement, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the new measures, which would apply in England, Scotland and Wales, would be aimed at "empowering local authorities to deal with fly-tipping".

Licence holders can be disqualified from driving if they build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years.

According to government figures from the year 2024 to 2025, councils in England dealt with 1.26 million fly-tipping incidents, of which 62% involved of household waste.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said their new "Waste Crime Action Plan" would "restore pride in Britain's neighbourhoods".

In October, a report conducted by the House of Lords found that efforts to tackle serious waste crime have been "critically under-prioritised".

The Environmental Services Association estimates, the cost to the economy to tackle the waste was around £1bn a year in England.

A mountain of fly-tipped waste in Oxfordshire made headlines in November, which the prime minister had to address when questioned about it by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

"All available powers" would be used to make those responsible for a mountain of fly-tipped waste pay for the clean-up, the Sir Keir Starmer said at the time.

Reacting to the proposals, the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said the government must go further by clamping down "on criminal gangs who make millions in illegal earnings for industrial fly tipping".

"Liberal Democrats have called for an independent review of the entire waste crime system and for the National Crime Agency to take over investigations from the Environment Agency in the most serious cases," he added.

Currently, fly-tipping is a criminal offence, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

According to the environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy, fly-tipping is defined as the illegal deposit of any waste on to land that does not have a licence to accept it and costs councils millions of pounds each year to clear up.

The courts currently have various powers available to tackle fly-tipping, including imprisonment and fines.