FOI Request - Fly Tipping

Request 101002514782

I write this letter under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information on flytipping:

1. How many flytipping incidents in the county that your authority controls were reported to Moray Council, Police Scotland and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency between 2010 and 2020?
2. How many flytipping cases were dropped between 2010 and 2020 because the evidence was found to be tampered with? Also, how many were dropped due to fears of reprisals from the reported offender(s)? How many were also dropped due to lack of evidence?
3. Can the citizens of the Moray Council, area, set up their own covert surveillance cameras to capture flytippers in the act themselves? If so, apart from Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (especially regarding section 2 on privacy being exempt in the interest of preventing crime and disorder) what exact laws need to be taken into consideration which includes regards to the Information Commissioner's Office? If high-quality footage of an offence was successfully captured, can the footage be used in court?
4. How are dealing with people that are fly tipping.
5. How much is it costing each year to clean up.

Response 17-06-2020

1. The Council has 264 jobs recorded on ASB module - however, this does not necessarily represent all cases reported to the Council. Additionally, the Council does not hold figures for Police Scotland and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. As such,
2. In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we can advise that the requested information is not held.
3. In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we can advise that  that the requested information is not held. The Council is unable to provide legal advice to anyone outside of the Council. If you require legal advice you may wish to consult with a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau. The Council does not recommend that private citizens deliberately set up their own surveillance, either overt or covert. 

Under our duty to be helpful we note that there is a large amount of information available on the internet at sites such as the Information Commissioner’s Office. The police have also produced guidance for people employing CCTV at home. The Council has information on fly tipping as well as a means of reporting incidents here:
http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_51587.html
4. Incidents are investigated and if there is sufficient evidence, formal action taken as appropriate.When the Council receives an enquiry relating to fly tipping we will visit the location and try to gather evidence. If we do find anything we will then liaise with the Community Wardens to ascertain if they will follow up the case. If so we will work with them in gathering evidence and statements, however any follow-up visits or issuing of Fixed Penalties are done by the Community Wardens
5. The Council will uplift the fly tipped materials from Council owned land as part of the normal street cleaning regime, and as such the costs are included within the Street Cleansing budget. There is no distinct cost within the Street Cleaning Budget for this; as such, in accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we can advise that the requested information is not held.