Flycapture Database

I recently tabled a parliamentary question on DEFRA’s flycapture database. This was introduced under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 as a tool to deal with flytipping hotspots and has been operational since 2004. For the first time, we have hard data which details the extent of the problem of fly-tipping. Previously, all authorities had relied on estimates from the Environment Agency.

The overall figures for the database is in the public domain but my question asked for the numbers broken down by local authority for 2005/6. The figures are illuminating and when I can, I’ll publish them in a pdf on this site. The authority with by far the largest number of recorded incidents on the database though is Wandsworth with 166,195 reported cases. In the West Midlands, Birmingham has more reported flytipping than any other authority with 25,782 cases.

Local councils are supposed to submit monthly returns to DEFRA who claim that “over 85% of authorities have made a full 12 monthly returns between April 2005 and March 2006 and 92% made at least 10 returns”. Clearly, all local authorities are not making full use of the database. So the poorest acting authorities may have a smaller number of reported incidents because they have done very little to deal with the problem. And as Ben Bradshaw says in his answer to me, flycapture was meant as a management tool to help target action rather than to compile league tables. Nevertheless, the figures should still be of interest.

For more information on the flycapture project take a look at Flycapture Enforcement Training – courses over several days to teach local officials how to use the database etc http://www.encams.org/events/main.asp?sub=11&pageid=223