Stuart Anderson MP has called on the Government to take extra steps to tackle litter and fly-tipping. It comes as official statistics show an increase of 16% in fly-tipping incidents across England last year.
Stuart has urged Ministers to open a new community ideas fund that better support locally developed schemes that combat these issues and help to reinstate civic pride in litter-ridden areas. Last year, Stuart successfully campaigned for an extension to the Lower Tier Services Grant. As part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, Wolverhampton has been allocated £477,000 for services such as homelessness, planning, recycling and refuse collection. He is now campaigning for new funding to empower communities to collaborate more closely on local issues such as litter and reinstate civic pride.
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), local authorities in England alone last year dealt with 1.13 million fly-tipping incidents – up from 980,000 the year before. It equates to an average 20 fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people. 90,585 incidents were in the West Midlands. In light of this, Stuart has called on Ministers to refresh the national litter strategy, with extra focus on supporting locally designed ideas that challenge and change attitudes towards littering.
It is estimated that keeping the country’s streets clean cost councils almost £700 million each year. Stuart said that this is an unacceptable waste of taxpayer’s money that could be better spent on other frontline services, such as health and education. Councils have the power to issue on-the-spot fines for up to £150 for littering and can issue them to owners of vehicles from which litter is thrown.
Stuart Anderson MP said: “Litter and fly-tipping are issues which have consistently been raised by constituents. I am appalled that there has been an increase of 16% in fly-tipping incidents over the last year. It continues to be a blight on communities and damages perceptions of our city. I am calling for a new community ideas fund to support local schemes that will combat these issues and challenge attitudes to littering by reinstating civic pride.”
Stuart has urged anyone who spots any fly-tipping in Wolverhampton to report it to the City Council via the Love Clean Streets App at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/contact-us/love-clean-streets-app.