Murdo Fraser MSP is “delighted” that four key points in his Members’ Bill on Fly-tipping have been incorporated into the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill.
Earlier this week, the Scottish Parliament agreed an amendment to the Bill to allow a local authority only to serve a notice requiring removal of waste where that authority is satisfied that the occupier or owner of the land deposited, or knowingly caused or knowing permitted the waste to be deposited.
The Scottish Conservative politician has been preparing his Member’s Bill on Fly-tipping, which included running a consultation back in 2022. The purpose of this was to improve data collection and publication, adjust the liability both on generators of waste and on the innocent owners of land on which waste was dumped, and to increase the penalties for offenders.
The consultation responses to the Member’s Bill proposal showed very strong support for each one of these measures.
Speaking following the Stage 3 amendments of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill, Mr Fraser said: “With Holyrood agreeing this change which allows a council only to serve a notice requiring removal of waste where that authority is satisfied that the occupier or owner of the land deposited, or knowingly caused or knowing permitted the waste to be deposited, it means all four of my key points in my Members’ Bill were agreed, which is very positive news. This move finally removes liability for clearing waste from the innocent landowner – it was an injustice that needed rectified.
“I was also pleased that the Bill as introduced contained a measure to increase the liability on a generator of waste to ensure that this is properly disposed of. This dealt with one of the four elements in my Member’s Bill proposal.
“In addition, the Scottish Government also agreed to my amendment to increase a fixed penalty from £500 to £1,000 at Stage 2 of the Bill, as they did with another amendment which granted power to Scottish Ministers to require information from local authorities and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority in relation to reporting of incidents of unlawful depositing of waste, to allow collation and analysis of data around fly-tipping.”
Mr Fraser continued: “Agreeing to the amendment on removing liability for dumped fly-tipping on land was a fitting end to this chapter in my bid to take action against the scourge of fly-tipping and I hope that these four measures that are now part of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill will play some part in tackling this major issue.”
