Agenda item

Councillor Sterry asked:

*2025/08

Fly tipping and Costs 

Number of incidents

Out of the 22 authorities in Wales, for 2023-24 Newport took back the No1 spot for the most recorded fly tipping incidents in Wales.

A total of 8139 incidents raised, let us put that into prospective, Newport reordered more incidents for the whole of Mid and South West Wales (7,386).

Mid and South Wales covers Powys, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, and Neath Port Talbot

The average fly tipping incidents in Newport from 2014 to 2018 was 2638 cases

The average fly tipping incidents in Newport from 2019 to 2023 was 5761 cases

Cost to the tax payer

Out of the 22 authorities in Wales, for 2023-24 Newport was ranked No1 for the most spend on cleaning up Fly tipping by local authority in Wales.

It cost Newport City Council £343,274 again putting that into prospective, Newport vastly paid more money out cleaning up Fly tipping than any other authority and exceeding the whole of Mid and South West Wales £283,245

Bookings to the tip (by cities in Wales)

2020 Newport introduced the booking system to visit the tip, the amount of fly tipping has significantly increased year on year (apart from 2022 which had a slight drop)  

Bookings slots for the tip: Newport and Cardiff (The two highest authorities for Fly tipping incidents and costs)  

No bookings required: Wrexham and 1 location from 5 for booking only for Swansea.  

Pre 2020 Newport fly tipping by cases was at an average of 6.84% whereas after 2020 we are now at an average of 15.84%

Recycling rates  

2020-21 Newport at 67.2%

2021-22 Newport at 67.1% behind Wrexham 67.9%

2022-23 Newport at 65.2% behind Swansea 71.8%, and Wrexham 65.5%
2023-24 Newport at 67.9% behind Swansea 70.4%

Summary

• The smaller bins were introduced in 2019, and the 3 weekly bin collection was introduced in 2023, we were assured that the reduction in size of the household waste bin and moving to 3-week collection, that this would not have an impact on fly tipping.

• The amount of fly tipping cases has doubled in Newport from (stats from 2014-18) and the cost to clear out streets in Newport £343,274 outranks Cardiff £300,426, Swansea £ 118,872, and Wrexham £28,342
• The two highest offenders for fly Tipping costs are Newport and Cardiff are at (33.24% / £643,700) which both use the booking system, whereas the other two cities, Swansea and Wrexham that do not use the full booking system are only at (7.60% / £147,214) of costs. Our recycling rates have been behind Swansea or Wrexham every year (apart from Covid year 2020) since we have introduced the booking system.
• The booking system does relieve the traffic congestion on the SDR , but as the stats suggest it also has an impact on Fly tipping.

All these stats have been taken from https://statswales.gov.wales/

Questions for NCC

1.      What is NCC doing to bring down these costs to an average (£150,000) between Cardiff, Swansea, and Wrexham ?

2.      Is the booking system working as the stats suggest that Newport and Cardiff are behind neighbouring Welsh cities Swansea and Wrexham in recycling but ahead in fly tipping?   

3.      How are you going to measure this to ensure that NCC are on track ?

4.      Can we introduce pop up recycling centres to areas that are known high areas for fly tipping? (This would improve our recycling rates and reduce our fly tipping rates)

5.      Can we offer an incentive that rewards residents if measures are hit, like a reduction by % in council tax?

6.      Can we offer other incentives maybe if a fly tipper is successfully convicted then the person/s who passed on the evidence receives a cash reward?

7.      I see the headlines " More investment to combat litter and fly tipping , can you please clarify what the details are? 

8.      Can the Council review the current booking system? Are there enough booking slots available during the day? 

Councillor Forsey responded:

Unfortunately, the reporting through the national database is not consistent.  While NRW have issued guidance to councils on the incidents that have to be reported, this has not been enforced. We see value in fully recording every instance as it helps us target enforcement and enables a more rapid response.

Costs listed via the national database are based on national averages and are not a reflection of actual costs.

Newport has for a number of years had one of the highest rates of recycling in the UK. Last year our rate of 68% was better than every single council in England. Figures for the first three quarters of this year indicate we are likely to move back to the highest performing city in the UK for recycling rate this year.

A discussion with officers may be the best way to address the comments of Cllr Sterry in more detail.