Calls for action on fly tipping in Coventry as figures show only 1% of culprits fined
Out of over 6000 reports last year, just 64 penalty notices were handed out
A call has been made for tougher action on fly-tipping in Coventry after shock new figures showed only one per cent of cases result in a fine.
An even lower percentage of 0.2 per cent – amounting to just 13 cases – end up being taken to court.
The figures were highlighted by a member of Coventry’s Reform group who said the figures were well below the national average and the council needed to do more to stamp out the problem of fly-tippers and litter louts.
The authority has been asked if new enforcement officers taking to the streets to tackle e-bikes and other nuisance behaviour can help to deal with the problem. It is employing more staff as it plans to ramp up powers in its Public Spaces Protection Order.
Cllr Mel Gregory (Reform, Henley) asked a meeting of the full council “why only one percent of the 6,428 reports of fly tipping resulted in a fixed penalty notice and only 0.2 per cent of these cases ended up in court.”
The figures come from the latest council data, which is for 2024/2025, she said. They mean penalty notices were only issued in 64 cases and only 13 fly-tippers were taken to court.
Cllr Gregory added: “Nationwide, the fixed penalty notice rate is between 5 and 6 per cent. Why are we being less proactive? And could we not employ people to issue on-the-spot fines for littering like they do in other cities?”
The council’s Cabinet member for community safety and cohesion Cllr John McNicholas (Lab,Lower Stoke) responded: “It’s a problem that we are facing, and we will deal with it. I’ve just got my feet under the table, and I intend to be proactive in these matters that need to be addressed for the city of Coventry and I will ask my officers to support me in that endeavour.”
Cllr Wells added: “Weren’t you on about employing people to do marshalling around the city centre? So couldn’t they do the two jobs together?”
Cllr McNicholas replied: “It’s a fair question. The opportunities for the community wardens will be increasing. They will have enhanced powers, and we will be dealing with it.”
He asked councillors to let him know of any issues in relation to fly-tipping in their areas that could be dealt with by the wardens, adding: “It’s all part of the intelligence at a local level that is absolutely vital in order that they can do their jobs properly.”
When separately addressing the problem of e-bikes, Cllr McNicholas had said the council was hiring 18 compliance officers and five neighbourhood support officers to tackle that issue, as well expanding the number of community safety wardens and giving them greater powers over public nuisance.
In March, the city council backed a national call for sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping to be urgently reviewed.
The Local Government Association (LGA) called on the Government and the Sentencing Council to look at increasing the punishment for fly-tipping, after figures showed that offenders prosecuted through the courts are often fined less than the penalties councils can issue directly.
The LGA wants to see higher court fines, tougher sentences for repeat and organised offenders, and better recovery of prosecution and investigation costs.
The average court fine for fly-tipping is £539, compared with an average fixed penalty notice of £626 councils can issue themselves.
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 2024/2025 alone.
In addition to clean-up costs, councils invest huge amounts of time and money in investigating offences and bringing cases to court. Despite this, court sentencing outcomes fail to reflect the seriousness of the crime or the impact on public spaces, the LGA said.