Zero – that’s the number of fly-tippers who have been prosecuted for illegally dumping their rubbish in Sutton during the past eight years, despite thousands of reported incidents.

Data obtained by the Sutton Guardian reveals authorities have received 4,581 reports of the criminal offence in the past five years alone.

Even though the number has more than doubled, from 949 in 2015/16 to 2,224 in 2016/17, there have been no successful prosecutions.

The Government granted councils beefed-up powers to help tackle fly-tipping with on-the-spot fixed penalty notices (FPNs) in May 2016, but only seven have been dished out by Sutton Council since being introduced.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by this newspaper reveal no offenders have been convicted through the courts by the council between April 2010 and today (October 17).

All seven of the FPNs administered within the past couple years for “small-scale” fly-tips were at £400 – the maximum full penalty available to authorities.

A Sutton Council spokesman said: “Since 2016, local authorities have had new powers to issue FPNs for fly-tipping. Although the environmental enforcement team was formed as part of the Kingston and Sutton Shared Service review, it was not fully operational until December 2016.

“The team inherited a significant backlog of issues and work, hence the delay until after May 2017 before there was the capacity to issue FPNs.

“The problem of fly-tipping is often less than the general perception, and reports come in many forms, including where rubbish has been disposed of on private land.

“Each case is judged on its merits and there are a number of options available to deal with offenders.”

While he could not comment on decisions made by council officers several years ago regarding prosecutions at this time, it was stressed that action has been taken since the shared service was formed.

Caught fly-tippers can be punished with a fine of up to £50,000 or a year in prison if convicted in a magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine and a five-year jail term in a crown court.

Sutton Guardian received responses to its two FOI requests from the Kingston and Sutton Shared Environment Service.

This is a collaborative enforcement team between Kingston and Sutton councils which tackles a wide range of issues.

Alongside environmental health matters, such as fly-tipping, these include trading standards, licensing, and private sector housing.

Below is the number of fly-tipping reports received by Sutton Council since April 2013, with the number of FPNs in brackets.

Figures for the 2017/18 financial year were not released as they have not yet been confirmed.

  • 2016/17 - 2,224 (seven, £400 each)
  • 2015/16 - 949
  • 2014/15 - 790
  • 2013/14 - 618