Rise in recorded fly-tipping thanks to 'increased public awareness', council claims

Edgware ward recorded the highest total number of incidents, followed closely by Cricklewood, Burnt Oak and Hendon, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Barnet Council's new fly-tipping awareness campaign — Barnet Council’s new fly-tipping awareness campaign (credit Barnet Council)

Recorded instances of fly-tipping are on the rise in Barnet – with 14,129 offences documented between April 2025 and July 2026 alone.

The data was published by Barnet Council in a report prepared ahead of a meeting of its environment overview and scrutiny sub-committee on Monday (9th).

Staff at the local authority have previously argued that the rising figures are likely a reflection of “improved public awareness and education, resulting in higher reporting rates”.

Comparable year-on-year reporting – provided for the four months between April and July – show incidents rising in 2026 relative to the same period in 2025.

Over the data’s 16-month timeframe, the overall rate of fly-tipping rose, peaking with 1,121 incidents in March 2026.

Following the March spike, the overall rate of fly-tipping remained significantly higher throughout the spring and summer of 2026, consistently hovering around 1,000 incidents per month compared to the same months in 2025, which generally stayed in the 700–870 range.

The worst relative increase happened this July, where the council recorded 989 incidents – nearly 25% more than in the same month in 2025.

Over the entire period, Edgware ward recorded the highest total number of incidents at 1,568, followed closely by Cricklewood (1,523), Burnt Oak (1,377), and Hendon (1,348).

Meanwhile, the lowest levels of fly-tipping were recorded in Totteridge and Woodside, with 39 total incidents across the 16 months. Barnet Vale and Underhill also presented relatively low figures, with 57 and 76 reported incidents respectively between April 2025 and July 2026.

The council’s efforts to address fly-tipping were previously discussed by the committee in July. Prior to the meeting, officers said 9,866 fly‑tipping incidents were reported and “subsequently cleared by the service” in 2025/26 – up from the 6,938 of the previous year.

Although a significant, 42% rise, officers said that the increase “is likely to reflect improved public awareness and education, resulting in higher reporting rates”.

They added: “Timely reporting of fly‑tipping has also supported increased enforcement activity with 3,952 enforcement actions taken in 2025/26 including 272 fixed penalty notices issued to offenders in 2025/26 compared with 142 in 2024/25.”

In their report prepared for next week’s meeting, officers say they “are already developing a proposal” for the next phase of the council’s campaign, which is looking to increase its focus on “fly-tipping hotspots” over ward-level approaches.

The next steps to be taken by the local authority will be discussed at Monday’s meeting prior to sign-off from Alan Schneiderman, the council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change.

Nevertheless, as was reported by the local authority in July, challenges remain, with “many incidents” where inspections and investigations “do not uncover sufficient evidence”.

Although the council hopes to continue to step up its work to address fly-tipping, it also notes that offenders are “becoming increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to avoid detection”.

This is said to include the use of “false or obscured vehicle registration plates and the wearing of head or face coverings to evade recognition on CCTV”.

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