Exclusive: Glasgow rat and fly-tipping reports rise - but litter penalties fall

A Freedom of Information request from GlasgowWorld has highlighted a number of growing issues in Glasgow, with COP26 just months away.

How many fly-tipping complaints have there been?

The number of reports of fly-tipping has been increasing since 2016, when 17,447 complaints were made. That number dropped in 2017 - but has been rising ever since.

2020 saw 20,466 reports made - 3000 more than in 2016 - and 16,111 reports were made between Jan 1 and August 20 this year, with 2021 looking on course to break last year’s record.

It comes as councillors and Glaswegians have been voicing their concerns about Glasgow’s litter problem.

Last week, Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken was criticised after she said Glasgow needed a ‘spruce up’, during an interview with STV.

How many reports of rats have been made?

Like complaints about fly-tipping, the number of reports of rats has also been on the rise since 2016.

4048 reports were made that year, while in 2020, 7404 reports were made - a whopping 182 per cent increase in just four years.

The issue peaked in June 2020, when more than 1000 reports were made in just one month.

2021 (between January 1 and August 21) has already seen 5476 complaints - more than the whole of 2016.

Rat complaints are split into two categories - reports made of rats in living areas and reports made of rats in non-living areas. Both have risen drastically since 2016.

The number of reports of rats in non-living areas in 2020 was almost double the amount in 2016 - from 3067 five years ago to 6065 last year.

How many Fixed Penalty Notices for littering have been issued?

While the figures for 2021 and 2020 do not give an accurate reflection of the issue - the service was suspended in March 2020 as Covid-19 hit and the normal method of issuing notices has just been restarted - the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued for littering has been dropping since 2016.

A massive 14,789 were issued that year. But that figure had dropped to 4609 in 2019 - 10,000 fewer Fixed Penalty Notices.