Fly tipping enquiry
Case reference FOI2026/01438
Received 10 July 2026
Published 5 August 2026
Request
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please could you provide the following information relating to fly-tipping within areas that fall under Guildford Borough Council's authority for the period 1 June 2016 to 30 June 2026:
- The total number of fly-tipping reports received.
- The total number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued.
- The total number of prosecutions commenced.
- The total number of fines imposed by the courts following prosecution, where this information is held.
Please provide this information broken down by:
- Year; and
- Month, if this is readily available.
If held, please also provide a breakdown of the location type where the reported fly-tipping incidents occurred (for example: parks, highways, commercial land, private residential property, public open spaces, or any other categories you use).
Response
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please could you provide the following information relating to fly-tipping within areas that fall under Guildford Borough Council's authority for the period 1 June 2016 to 30 June 2026:
* The total number of fly-tipping reports received.
I can confirm that data on Local Authority collected waste management figures dating back to 2005 is publicly available information which can be found via the following website –
https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/0e0c12d8-24f6-461f-b4bc-f6d6a5bf2de5/waste-data-flow
In particular, the tables dating from 2016, which start with “Q100”, provide information regarding the type of materials being processed for disposal and the amounts in tonnes, as well as information about how the materials were processed (e.g. recycling / exported / composting / incineration with energy recovery etc).
The second set of tables for each reporting year (starting “Waste collection data”) provide a breakdown of the specific types and amounts of waste collected, as well as whether the waste was collected from kerbside schemes / commercial, industrial or non household sources / street cleaning etc. This table also provides data on the number of household recycling sacks and wheelie bins offered to households in each year, as well information about incidents of fly tipping and abandoned vehicles.
Further information regarding fly tipping statistics can also be found via the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-statistics-for-england
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
* The total number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued.
&
* The total number of prosecutions commenced.
Please see the attached spreadsheet with details of Fixed Penalty Notices and prosecutions dating from 1st April 2022 to 30th June 2026.
In addition, information regarding Fixed Penalty Noticed is publicly available via the following website:
Please see the table titled ‘flytipping incidents and actions taken (reported by LAs in England) 2012-13 to 2024-25’. In particular, please ensure that you are viewing the tab titled ‘LA_actions’– information relating to Guildford Borough Council can be found at row 4,070 and you will note that the different columns reference fixed penalty notices for a variety of reasons.
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
* The total number of fines imposed by the courts following prosecution, where this information is held.
N/A.
Please provide this information broken down by:
* Year; and
* Month, if this is readily available.
If held, please also provide a breakdown of the location type where the reported fly-tipping incidents occurred (for example: parks, highways, commercial land, private residential property, public open spaces, or any other categories you use).
The most common areas where fly tipping takes place are as follows:
A25 highway
Ash vale
Normandy
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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