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This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Funding to tackle fly-tipping

08/02/2005

More than £1 million for initiatives aimed at deterring anti-social dumping was announced today.

This is in addition to the annual funding of £60,500 to allow Scottish participation in a database compiling fly-tipping incidents, which was announced on February 3, in Parliament.

Initiatives now being funded include:

  • Over £1 million to support the work of the Scottish Fly-tipping Forum. The Forum's work includes a fly-tipping hotline and the "Dumb Dumpers" campaign launched last March.
  • £110,000 to fund a further year of the Local Environmental Audit and Management System (LEAMS), the system that measures local authority performance in keeping their streets clear of litter and refuse.

Environment Minister Ross Finnie said:

"The Scottish Executive is working for a cleaner and safer environment. The number of calls to the Forum's hotline confirms that the Scottish public is fed up with people illegally dumping their rubbish.

"Fly-tipping is a national eyesore that blights many communities and we are determined to stamp it out. This substantial funding further enforces our commitment to clean up Scotland's environment."

In welcoming the support, John Summers, National Director of Keep Scotland Beautiful said:

"The generous support of one million pounds will go a long way to tackling the scourge of fly-tipping that affects many local communities. The funding will promote national advertising and co-ordination to track down and penalise offenders.

"The money for the LEAMS programme will ensure continuous improvement in levels of litter across Scotland."

Funding has been allocated from provision for waste initiatives. The element of this package to support Scottish participation in the "Flycapture" system was announced by Mr Finnie in Question Time in the Parliament last Thursday. The system will be operated by Keep Scotland Beautiful and is being launched in Hamilton today.

The Scottish Fly-tipping Forum's work includes the "Dumb Dumpers" campaign launched in March last year. The main feature of the campaign is the "Stop Line" number which members of the Scottish public can phone to report incidents of fly-tipping. To date over 1300 calls have been received.

"Flycapture" is a national database which will provide accurate statistics on the extent of the problem of fly-tipping in Scottish local authority areas. Local authorities will be able to input data relating to fly-tipping incidents.

The aim of LEAMS (Local Environmental Audit and Management System) is to provide local authority Performance Indicators for street cleanliness for publication by Audit Scotland. £245,000 has already been provided by the Executive to fund the first 2 years of the scheme and local authorities have expressed their satisfaction at its progress.

Page updated: Monday, February 7, 2005