Increase in fly-tipping increase led to backlog of 1,000 cases for Doncaster Council

Doncaster Council has seen a reported increase in the number of fly-tipping incidents across the borough, new figures show.

New data has revealed a 36 per cent increase in just three months from October to December 2020.

Data at the end of quarter three, October-December 2020, shows there were 1,089 cases that needed attending to.

But bosses said the level of performance from the department has been maintained despite the increase in jobs it’s being called out on.

Council workers clear 61 per cent of reported jobs within seven days of it being reported – down significantly from targets implemented before the pandemic hit.

Bosses said this was down to social distancing restrictions on workers in vans and out on jobs.

The council has recently announced extra money for covert CCTV to catch more fly-tippers in the act.

Other statistics from the department from reporting the end of quarter three shows there was a ‘large increase in green waste and recycling.

Figures show the amount of recycling increased to 51.6 per cent by the end of December up from 38.4 per cent by the end of September. The end of 2020 figure surpassed the council target of 50 per cent of waste being recycled.

Sennette Wroot, senior policy and insight manager, said: “During quarter three the performance for the removal of fly tip within seven days was maintained at 61 per cent . This maintenance of performance was achieved despite a continued period of restrictions.

“This was due to the limits placed on vehicle occupancy, the service remains unable to deploy staff to undertake fly-tip activities as per normal service delivery arrangements.

“Performance has been maintained despite an increase of 36 per cent in the number of fly tip incidents reported in quarter three, compared to the same period last year and an increase inthe volumes.

“There remains a back-log of open cases – 1,089 at the end of December."

An action plan for providing a more focused response to and dealing with littering and fly-tipping in key hotspot areas is currently being developed.

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