National litter and flytipping strategy: baseline report
This report was completed as part of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy (NLFS) year one action plan, action 18; to Improving consistency of flytipping data data by developing a flytipping baseline for Scotland, identifying data gaps and changes that may be needed in the future.
Data consistency considerations
(Table 4) RAG status scoring
RAG Status
Green - Reliable data that is up to date - annually updated Scottish data
Yellow - Potential inaccuracies
Red - Likely inaccuracies
Data |
Source |
Commentary |
RAG Status |
|---|---|---|---|
People proceeded against in Scottish Courts (total prosecuted and total convicted) |
Scottish Government Publications – statistics |
Nationally reported data, published annually by Scottish Government |
Green |
Outcome of convictions in Scottish Courts (monetary, other, community service, custody) |
Scottish Government Publications – statistics |
Nationally reported data, published annually by Scottish Government |
Green |
Total number of people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish Courts by local authority (by court location and where the offender lives) |
Scottish Government Publications – statistics |
Nationally reported data, published annually by Scottish Government |
Green |
Non-court disposal route (direct measure e.g., fiscal fine, fiscal warning, recorded police warning) |
Scottish Government Publications – statistics |
Nationally reported data, published annually by Scottish Government |
Green |
Penalties imposed by SEPA – Fixed Monetary Penalties and Variable Monetary Penalties |
SEPA – regulatory publications |
Nationally reported data, published by SEPA |
Green |
Flytipping incidents |
Dumb Dumpers (SEPA) |
Data set itself is robust in terms of incidents reported to Dumb Dumpers, however, it does not integrate to overall incident data due to the high likelihood of double counting |
Amber |
Total flytipping incidents – reports to local authorities |
Primary data collected from local authorities |
Data not publicly available or independently verified. Data available from only 15 local authorities (out of 32) |
Amber |
Total flytipping incidents – reports to local authorities, split by month |
Primary data collected from local authorities |
Data not publicly available or independently verified. Data available from only 15 local authorities (out of 32) |
Amber |
Total flytipping incidents – reports to local authorities, split by waste type |
Primary data collected from local authorities |
Data not publicly available or independently verified. Data available from only 10 local authorities (out of 32). Lower RAG status than total incidents from primary data due to lower coverage |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents – reports to local authorities, split by land type |
Primary data collected from local authorities |
Data not publicly available or independently verified. Data available from only 6 local authorities (out of 32). Lower RAG status than total incidents from primary data due to lower coverage |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents – reports to local authorities, split by size of the flytipping incident |
Primary data collected from local authorities |
Data not publicly available or independently verified. Data available from only 7 local authorities (out of 32). Lower RAG status than total incidents from primary data due to lower coverage |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents – reports to local authorities |
Secondary data from Scottish Liberal Democrat FOI |
Data not independently verified. Two authorities provided calendar year data and two did not provide data |
Amber |
Local authority enforcement actions |
Primary data collected from local authorities |
Data not publicly available or independently verified. Data available from only 10 local authorities (out of 32). |
Amber |
Local authority enforcement actions |
Secondary data from Scottish Liberal Democrat FOI |
Data not independently verified. Three authorities did not provide data/it was not comparable |
Amber |
Data |
Level of confidence |
Level of completeness |
Commentary |
RAG Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
People proceeded against in Scottish Courts |
HIGH |
COMPLETE |
- |
Green |
Total flytipping incidents in 2022/23 |
LOW |
INCOMPLETE |
Primary data and the Liberal Democrat FOI give a good indication, however, the lack of data from private landowners means that this data is likely to significantly underrepresent the total number of flytipping incidents in Scotland |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents in 2022/23, reported by month |
LOW |
INCOMPLETE |
Primary data has only been gathered from 15 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents in 2022/23, reported by waste type |
LOW |
INCOMPLETE |
Primary data has only been gathered from 10 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents in 2022/23, reported by land type |
LOW |
INCOMPLETE |
Primary data has only been gathered from 6 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities |
Red |
Total flytipping incidents in 2022/23, reported by size of the flytipping incident |
LOW |
INCOMPLETE |
Primary data has only been gathered from 7 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities |
Red |
Enforcement undertakings (by enforcement bodies) |
MEDIUM |
PARTIALLY COMPLETE |
Primary and secondary data has been gathered from local authorities and gives good coverage. Data has also been gathered from SEPA |
Amber |
Contact
Email: NLFS@gov.scot
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