8. What action is the Welsh Government undertaking to address fly-tipping in remote rural locations in Islwyn? OQ56061

Thank you. Welsh Government funds the Fly-tipping Action Wales programme, which is led by Natural Resources Wales. The programme continues to support Caerphilly County Borough Council in tackling fly-tipping. This has included provision of surveillance equipment, signage and training. Work is ongoing to identify solutions to stop fly-tipping on common land in this region.

Thank you, Minister, for that answer. Fly-tipping costs Caerphilly County Borough Council hundreds of thousands of pounds, with the majority of rubbish being dumped in areas of open land, such as the historic Twmbarlwm in my constituency of Islwyn. Not only is there a financial cost to pay, but there is untold cost to the beautiful natural landscapes of Islwyn. Minister, earlier this year the Welsh Government relaunched its duty of care campaign to encourage people to help stop fly-tipping. So, how can the Welsh Government aid and empower Caerphilly County Borough Council and other local authorities to help combat the scourge of fly-tipping?

Rhianon Passmore raises a really important point. This part of Welsh Government has recently come back into my portfolio, and I've taken a keen interest in it because I think, certainly over the course of the pandemic, we have seen an increase in fly-tipping that we would not want to see. So, we do continue to work closely with all local authorities so that we can support them in any measures they bring forward to prevent and investigate fly-tipping incidents. 

I think the campaign to which you referred, the Duty of Care campaign, has been well received. There's a communication toolkit, for instance, which can be used by all partner organisations and that really does encourage householders to dispose of their waste and recycling responsibly. We've also recently awarded funding via the rural communities rural development programme for the common collaboration project at the commons that are partly located, I think, in your constituency, but certainly within Caerphilly County Borough Council. And part of that project will focus on tackling landscape crime, and that includes a Fly-tipping Action Wales officer working closely with the commoners association and Caerphilly council to tackle fly-tipping.