Despite the anti-social, pollution and cost impacts of waste crime, the Department for the Environment (Defra) and the Environment Agency are making only “slow and piecemeal” progress in carrying out the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy, says the Public Accounts Committee of MPs (PAC).
The MPs in a report say there is still no strategy or plan for achieving a target of eliminating waste crime by 2043. Local government reported 1.1 million incidents of fly-tipping during 2020–21 to Defra. However, Defra recognises that some local authorities provide incomplete figures, and that coverage of fly-tipping on private sector land is not good enough, the PAC reported.
Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “Another day, another policy headline with no plan or demonstrable progress towards achieving it, despite years of resources put in. The result is property and countryside blighted by fly-tipping, toxic leaks into our soil, and tonnes of waste illegally exported by the UK to developing countries even less able to cope with its indefinite negative effects.
“With growing involvement of criminal gangs, adept at evading detection and who regard the fines if they are caught as merely a business expense, a much more serious approach to enforcement is required. Currently the Department’s approach to large parts of waste crime is closer to decriminalisation. Targets become meaningless – rubbish, you might say – when there isn’t even a strategy for achieving them, much less any indication or measurement of progress. Sadly, all the signs 4 years into a 25 year target period are that the problem is getting worse.”
Current sanctions are not effective in deterring people from committing waste crime, the report said. The committee queried why the number of successful prosecutions has dropped dramatically over the past 15 years and why investigations were taking longer and longer. The Agency told PAC that prosecutions, despite their potential effectiveness at deterring waste crime, are a last resort.
Official data do not capture the true scale and impact of waste crime, and government initiatives do not amount to a convincing overall plan, the MPs argued. Of the 14 ‘actions’ in the 2018 strategy, only three have been completed: setting up a Joint Unit for Waste Crime, changes to legislation to give the Agency greater powers, and giving the Agency access to police intelligence. A digital waste tracking system is still in development after four years, MPs complained.
Among the witnesses heard by the MPs was Richard Las, Head of Operations, Fraud Investigation Service, HM Revenue and Customs. The number of fly-tipping incidents reported by councils has been rising over the past decade, the report said, and while the number of known active illegal waste sites has dropped since 2018–19, the Agency considers this to be unrepresentative, due to the covid-19 pandemic affecting the ability of its officers to make investigations.
To read the report in full visit the PAC part of the UK Parliament website.
Comment
The National Farmers Union (NFU) responded to PAC’s call for evidence in June. NFU Vice President David Exwood said: “Farmers are very often the victims of waste crime which is not only costly and time-consuming to remove, but can prove dangerous to human health, wildlife and livestock and in some cases pollute watercourses and contaminate land.
“It continues to take a huge toll financially on farming businesses and impacts on emotional and mental health and affects farmers’ ability to produce food and care for the environment. We are pleased that the Public Accounts Committee has listened carefully to our evidence, particularly around fly-tipping, and in its report supports our calls for better reporting and recording of the range of waste crime incidents, and the need for effective punishments that deter criminals dumping waste illegally.
“The report also highlights another of our key asks; that improving user experience and willingness to report waste crime requires fundamental change, and that a single reporting mechanism is needed to reduce frustration and confusion.
“The NFU urges the government and its agencies to recognise the serious impacts waste crime is having on farm businesses and the wider rural community, make it a priority issue and fully commit to tackling it.”
Anyone with information about waste crime is asked to contact an Environment Agency hotline 0800 80 70 60 or call anonymously Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/pre-form. The Agency and partners, including Lincolnshire Police, Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), South Kesteven Council and HMRC, recently ran Operation Clean Sweep against illegal waste in Lincolnshire.
Picture by Mark Rowe; no fly-tipping sign, Woodford, north-east London.
