Rotherham council receives cash to combat fly-tipping: Will 'hotspot' patrols and CCTV help?

Rotherham Council will receive an allocation from a total of £775,000 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

DEFRA said councils will have six months to roll out their initiatives, including greater provision of CCTV and barriers, before sharing how this has worked in practice and helping other councils to develop similar schemes.

There will also be a council league table for fly-tipping, as well as extra “hotspot” patrols, a trial ‘Immediate Justice’ scheme and harshest punishments of up to £1,000 for illegal disposing of waste.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak pledged to clamp down on perpetrators of anti-social behaviour through an action plan to “make communities safer”.

He said: “Anti-social behaviour undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home.

“The public have rightly had enough, which is why I am determined to restore people’s confidence that those responsible will be quickly and visibly punished.

“This action plan maps out how we will tackle this issue with the urgency it deserves and stamp out these crimes once and for all — so that wherever you live, you can feel safe in, and proud of your community.”

The Advertiser revealed in January that there were more than 5,100 illegal waste incidents reported to Rotherham Council last year — down from almost 6,000 in 2021.

But the number of enforcement actions remained low, with just over 100 during 2022 and only 83 the previous year.

Cleaning up dumped rubbish cost the council taxpayer £200,569 to clear-up the 5,982 cases of fly-tipping in 2021 — with only £5,600 recovered as fines.