'I'm actually disgusted by this' – Moray Council wrote off every unpaid fly-tipping fine in the last five years
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MORAY Council wrote off five years of unpaid fly-tipping fines without trying to take any to court – news which left a rural campaigner: "Very, very disappointed, and very shocked."
Out of 30 fines issued between April 2018 and April 2023, 24 were not paid and none were referred to the Procurator Fiscal.
The "massively disappointing" figures, revealed this week (July 10) through a Northern Scot Freedom of Information (FOI) Request, show that Moray Council "need to get their act together", said Lorna Paterson, north east manager for the NFU Scotland (NFUS).
Moray Council has also not issued any litter fines in the last four years, between April 2019 and April 2023, according to the new figures.
A council spokesperson said 11 council fly-tipping fines had been successfully contested.
The responsible team's focus, the spokesperson added, had been changed to Covid-19 response during the Pandemic and it was "inappropriate" to submit unpaid fines to the Procurator Fiscal during Covid when "they themselves were already overwhelmed".
The Moray Council spokesperson said: “In addition to the four fines paid, another 11 fines were contested successfully.
"The majority of these fines were issued during the pandemic where the team’s focus was diverted to undertake monitoring and enforcement duties in relation to Covid-19.
"During this time it was also deemed inappropriate to burden the Procurator Fiscal when they themselves were already overwhelmed.”
Ms Paterson said fly-tipping is a "massive problem", both for farmers and for Moray communities, and is pushing for an urgent meeting between the council and NFUS to stop the dumping.
"I'm actually disgusted by this," she said.
"Fly-tipping is a massive problem. And what message does this send out to the people doing it?
"I am very, very disappointed, and very shocked. And it's massively disappointing too.
"They are not doing the right thing and I'm appalled by that."
Moray's three community wardens are the only council staff authorised to hand out fines for fly-tipping, as well as littering and dog fouling.
However, the Scot's FOI request showed that each warden spends, on average, less than an hour-and-a-half per week pursuing fines.
That is according to council figures, showing that 0.1 FTE – a tenth of one full time job – was dedicated to the task between April 2018 and April 2023.
Given a 37-hour week, this means wardens spent less than four hours a week between them working on fines.
Not referring unpaid fines to the Procurator Fiscal, which is the first step towards a court appearance, Ms Paterson said: "is the wrong way to go about it,"
"We need to change the way they do business.
"It's just not good for anybody is it? For members of the public, visitors and farmers.
"And Moray council need to get their act together."
Ms Paterson plans to ask Moray Council for a sit-down with NFUS over the figures, she said, to help find a better way to fight fly-tipping.
"I would welcome a meeting in the very first instance. We certainly would have plenty to say," she said.
"We want to work with them to escalate these complaints.
"The message to them is: for goodness sake, when we do catch somebody – put on the pressure.
"When somebody ends up in court for a fly-tipping fine, it acts as warning to everyone else."
Farmers and landowners hit by fly-tipping already face an uphill battle to catch those responsible and to have waste removed, according to Ms Paterson.
Unless fly-tippers are caught on CCTV, she argued, police pass incidents to the council and landowners also face delays for council help.
Giving the example of steel mattress springs, she said dumped waste can cause serious injuries to farmers and members of the public and can kill livestock.
Those caught fly-tipping currently face a £200 fine and – if the case goes to court – punishment can include a £40,000 fine and a year in jail.
And under new Scottish Government plans, the initial penalty for dumping is to rise to £500.
However, Ms Paterson said the council's actions were "not following the guidance" of the Scottish Government and could harm Moray's important tourism and agriculture industries.
"In my opinion, it is not following the guidance. It just doesn't fit with the government strategy," she said.
"Do Moray Council think doing this is good for tourism and agriculture? Because it just isn't."
The new council figures also highlighted a huge rise in fly-tipping during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
In the 2018-19 financial year, Moray Council issued three fly-tipping fines with one being paid. In 2019-20 no fines were issued.
However, figures rocketed to 16 fines in 2020-21, with only two paid.
Eight of these fines were for incidents in the Speyside Glenlivet ward.
High levels continued the following year, 2021-22, with 10 fines handed out and one paid.
Throughout 2022-23, four fines were issued and all went unpaid.
