Fly-tipping in Glasgow needs tougher enforcement if a national strategy to increase penalties is to work a union has said.
Last week the Scottish Government announced its litter and fly-tipping strategy which included a doubling of fines to £500.
GMB, which represents cleansing workers in Glasgow, however, said without proper enforcement resources it will not be ineffective.
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The union wants more community enforcement officers in the city able to issue fines for fly-tipping.”
The council, however, said they do not currently have this power and that environmental health officers were issuing fines.
Chris Mitchell, GMB cleansing convenor, highlighted the amount of fly -tipping sites in Glasgow.
He said: “They have cut public services that tackle this, and it is billions of pounds.
“They’ve cut cleansing, they’ve cut environmental health, they’ve cut enforcement.
“How can you double the fines on the perpetrators if the very same day you cut the staff in half?
“Glasgow City Council and Scottish Government start telling the truth. Your policies have failed, they’ve failed communities. It’s having a devastating effect on my members and communities that we serve.”
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The Glasgow Times has highlighted fly-tipping across the city, in streets, on wastes ground, in cemeteries, old railway lines and back lanes, with residents angry at a lack of action to prevent people and businesses dumping where they please.
The Government said the strategy was “bold action” and that “enforcement is a key theme”.
The union however said enforcement is being compromised by cuts.
A GMB spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government's new National Litter and Fly-tipping strategy, flies in the face of reality on the ground.
“Glasgow City Council rejected our proposals to reverse cuts to community enforcement teams to deal with fly-tipping on the same week the Scottish Government published a new strategy to deal with the problem.
“We call on Glasgow City Council to adopt the Scottish Government's litter and fly-tipping strategy immediately and in full by working with GMB Scotland to invest in front-line jobs and reverse their decision to city Community Enforcement Officers in the city by half."
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Counci,l said : “Community enforcement officers do not currently have the power to issue fines for fly-tipping.
“We have previously offered to meet with the union to discuss incorporating fly-tipping enforcement into the role of community enforcement officers and that offer remains open.
“Fly-tipping enforcement is currently dealt with by environmental health officers and we have recently expanded this team.
“Fly-tipping reports in Glasgow are regularly scrutinised by our enforcement team in order to focus their efforts on the most affected areas of the city
“This helps to ensure the investigation of incidents and checks on the waste disposal arrangements of local businesses are targeted to the communities most in need of support.
“The bulk uplift service allows householders to dispose of larger items for just £5 per item.”
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