Item 6 on the agenda is the Household Waste Duty of Care (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2019. I call on the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government to move that motion, Hannah Blythyn. 

Motion NDM6970 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales; in accordance with Standing Order 27.5

1. Approves that the draft The Household Waste Duty of Care (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2019 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 29 January 2019.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Dirprwy Llywydd. I move the motion for the Household Waste Duty of Care (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2019. These regulations will allow local authorities in Wales and Natural Resources Wales to issue fixed penalties for household waste duty of care offences. Householders have a responsibility to ensure, when they pass their waste to someone else for disposal, that they check that they are a registered waste carrier. If they don't, they put themselves at risk of prosecution. Local authorities have told us that prosecuting householders is not always the most appropriate response for this type of offence and that it can also prove to be a burdensome process. In response, and to help address this, we consulted on proposals to introduce new fixed penalties, which received widespread support.

Respondents to the consultation also asked for a consistent national approach to setting the penalty amount and for the level of penalty to be proportionate to the offence. This is why I agreed to set the fixed penalty at £300 and have allowed enforcing authorities to have the discretion to offer an early repayment of £150. I believe this approach ensures the fixed penalties act as a sufficient deterrent whilst reflecting the concerns raised in the consultation. Local authorities will be able to retain their receipts to help contribute to the costs of dealing with waste crime. They will also still be able to exercise existing criminal prosecution powers for offences they deem inappropriate for a fixed penalty. The Welsh Government supports a balanced approach to enforcements and expects fixed penalties to only be used when the enforcing authority is satisfied that the evidence gathered shows an offence has been committed. 

Deputy Llywydd, we know that fly-tipping is an anti-social act that can create a blight on our communities and our countryside, and I'm pleased to commend this motion to the Chamber.

I'd like to welcome the Minister to her new role and her statement. Minister, I do have reservations about these new proposed regulations, and UKIP will be voting against them today. As you say, we do have a growing problem with fly-tipping, and we believe that the best approach is to make it as easy as possible for everyone—residents and commercial operators—to use council tips to dispose of material, which is then recycled. We know that many unscrupulous operators avoid legal means of disposing of rubbish and do resort to the appalling practice of fly-tipping, which disfigures the environment. We have to do what we can to restrict this practice, but I'm not sure that bringing in another regulation when the practice is already illegal will actually make things any better.

There seems to me to be a lot of overly bureaucratic rules over who can use council tips, when what we should be doing is making it easier for everyone to use these facilities—that is, if the aim is to reduce waste and increase recycling. But we do seem to get confused over this because of local councils also having a commercial imperative to increase their revenue by charging whoever they can for the use of recycling facilities. This doesn't just affect commercial operators. It also affects residents, who are now charged in many council areas for the collection of bulky items, where, a few years ago, these collections could be arranged free of charge.

I think, if we are serious about increasing recycling, we have to get away from the idea of people being charged or having to show proof of address details or being restricted to so many visits to the tip in a calendar year, all of which are now restrictions placed by most councils on people using recycling depots. If we really want more material recycled, we are better off reducing these petty restrictions so that more people can recycle more material at council-run facilities. So, we think that less regulation is actually better in terms of reducing fly-tipping, and for those reasons we oppose the new regulations today. Diolch yn fawr. 

Thank you. Can I ask the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to the debate? Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm actually quite surprised. From what you say, you acknowledge that there's a problem with fly-tipping, yet don't support these regulations, which are aimed at not only enforcement, but as a deterrent. We are proud of our recycling record in Wales; that's why we're first in the UK and third in the world. And we want to build on that, which is why we will be bringing in our 'Towards Zero Waste' refresh later this year, and also we will be consulting on Part 4 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, which will place the same responsibility on businesses and other organisations to separate their waste for collection as householders already do in communities and counties right across Wales.

Just to reiterate—. The number of times I've stood here and responded to Members who have concerns in terms of fly-tipping in their local area—you know, we need to take whatever steps we can to tackle that. We know it is a blight on our communities and on our otherwise lovely countryside, and that's why we need a holistic approach that not only encourages people to recycle but also drives behaviour change as well, so we actually reduce that blight of fly-tipping on our country. So, I would invite Members to support these regulations, which will confer on Welsh local authorities and Natural Resources Wales the power to offer a person the ability to discharge liability to criminal conviction for waste duty of care offences by payment of a fixed penalty. Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer.

Thank you very much. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Therefore, we defer voting on this item until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.