Fly-tipping: Residential Areas

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) for securing this incredibly important debate.

I pay tribute to the South Park Users Group in Ilford South. Come rain or shine, they dedicate their time to keep our parks and streets clean through regular community litter picks. I also put on record my appreciation for the River Roding Trust, whose members collectively cleaned up 200 bags of rubbish from the River Roding, picking up the slack when Thames Water and the Environment Agency should have acted. I commend them for their dedication to ensuring that the residents of Ilford South live in a cleaner and safer environment.

Fly-tipping is a scourge that repeatedly comes up in conversations with residents. Recently, I visited a local school where children as young as 10 interrogated me about the fly-tipping that blights our area. The fly-tippers may think that they are invisible and that they can dump their waste and get away with it, but fly-tipping is one of the most visible crimes in our communities. When people see it on their way to work, on the school run or while walking their dog, it drains local pride, chips away at social trust and sends a message that our streets, parks and rivers do not matter.

[Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)]

As a fellow east Londoner, I know that fly-tipping blights our streets and neighbourhoods; it shows a real lack of respect for our communities. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should commend the Government for putting the onus on fly-tippers by making sure that they pay—if they do the waste crime, they do the waste time—and making sure that they are responsible for cleaning up their own mess?

[Jas Athwal]

I absolutely agree. I have been saying for the last 10 years that that should be done. The Government finally acting is a real positive; we are going in the right direction.

Fly-tipping blights our area, but when the council removes it quickly, people feel it is okay to dump rubbish on our streets because someone will pick it up. We cannot win either way; it becomes a vicious cycle. The more that people see the local area as a dumping ground, the more some feel enabled to fly-tip, meaning that the problem spirals unless it is fully tackled.

I know from working with my local council that decisive steps are being taken to tackle this blight on our communities. For instance, it maintains free bulky waste collection, removing a lame excuse for fly-tipping. It is cheaper to pick up from people’s doorsteps in a controlled manner than from the streets once the waste has been dumped. Redbridge council has implemented not only that policy, but the wall of shame, which is an approach that has been adopted by other councils: naming and shaming to expose the waste cowboys who impose their mess on us. That sends a clear message that such behaviour is unacceptable in Ilford South and that those who fly-tip on our streets will be held accountable.

I welcome the decisive actions the Government have already taken to support local authorities battling fly-tipping, from expanding council powers to crushing the vehicles of serial fly-tippers and making offenders clean up the very streets and parks they have ruined. We need to go further to target the very worst offenders. The council needs to be able to set larger maximum fines to generally deter serial fly-tippers and to demonstrate that although fly-tipping may seem inconsequential to them, it is one of the worst forms of antisocial behaviour. With tough enforcement, councils could use extra revenue to fund detection—

[Graham Stringer (in the Chair)]

Order. Your time is up. Before calling the Front-Bench spokespeople, I remind hon. Members that although there are often good reasons for being late to a debate, it is a courtesy to both the Chair and other hon. Members participating in the debate to put in a note explaining those reasons. I call Sarah Dyke.

Thames Water

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

I think it is right that both the regulator and the Government hold Thames Water to account, and I find the hon. Gentleman’s question slightly bizarre. I can reassure his constituents, and other customers of Thames Water, that the Government will always ensure continuity of service, but I make no apology for ensuring that customers are at the front and centre of my consideration of this proposal.

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. Thames Water is by far the worst water company when it comes to sewage spills, pollution incidents, flooding across overloaded sewer systems, customer complaints, regulatory penalties—the list goes on. The establishment of a robust, proactive regulator is a step in the right direction, but should not a company as bad as Thames Water be taken over by being put into special measures so that it can start again and work in favour of residents rather than shareholders, as an example to others that enough is enough?

[Emma Reynolds]

My hon. Friend is right to say that Thames Water has a terrible record going back—as I said in my statement—at least 15 years. He is also right to say that sewage spills in the Thames Water area are completely unacceptable. As I have said, the Government stand ready for all eventualities, including a special administration regime.

Water Companies

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Lady raises a shocking and awful case, and I am more than happy to meet her and look into it. There is no excuse for sewage ending up in primary schools or floating down the street. I am happy to take that up.

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

Thames Water, which serves my constituency, has had a chequered history—it has gone from bad to worse—and there has been sewage on the streets of Ilford too frequently. When is enough enough? When will we take back control from Thames Water?

[Emma Hardy]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, which provides yet another example of the current failure of the system. He is right to feel angry about it. As I have said, the Government are working closely with Ofwat in respect of Thames Water. We stand ready for every eventuality, including applying for special administration if necessary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

3. What steps she has taken with the Crown Prosecution Service to support victims of crime.

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

7. What steps she is taking with the Crown Prosecution Service to support the experience of victims in the criminal justice system.

[The Solicitor General]

This Government place the experience of victims at the very heart of the justice system and are determined to restore their faith in the system. I want to acknowledge the sad passing of Baroness Newlove, who worked tirelessly for victims. Through its victim transformation programme, the CPS is reshaping its service to victims. I recently visited a rape and serious sexual offences—RASSO—unit in the west midlands and heard first hand about the work that victim liaison officers do to offer crucial support. I am pleased that the service is now being piloted to victims of domestic abuse as well.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jas Athwal]

I welcome the Government’s ambitious mission to reduce violence against women and girls. Many survivors who experience sexual assault will never go to the police or press charges due to appallingly low conviction rates and fears of being retraumatised during court proceedings. Given the alarming statistic that one in four women over the age of 16 have been sexually assaulted, what steps are the Government taking to make reporting and pressing charges a more realistic prospect for survivors?

[The Solicitor General]

This Government are committed to halving violence against women and girls, and that is my No. 1 priority as Solicitor General. The barriers that victims of rape and serious sexual violence face in this country are unacceptable, and the CPS is committed to improving its performance. These efforts are beginning to have an impact. Referral volumes for adult rape are on a sustained upward trend, and in the last quarter conviction volumes were at their highest level since 2016.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jas Athwal Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

1. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on prosecuting knife offences.

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

4. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on prosecuting knife offences.

[Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich) (Lab)]

7. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on prosecuting knife offences.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this important matter. Knife-enabled robberies surged under the previous Government, which is why the Home Secretary has made tackling these offences an urgent priority. Enforcement is key, and that is why we are putting police back on the beat with a named officer for every neighbourhood.

[Jas Athwal]

I commend the Government for acting swiftly to ban ninja swords, seize zombie-style knives and crack down on the illegal online sale of these weapons. It will reassure communities such as mine in Ilford South, which sadly knows all too well the deadly effect of these weapons, with a number of heinous attacks this year where teenagers lost their lives. What are the Government doing to support the victims of knife crime and their families?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Many of our constituents will have gone through the same pain as his. That is why we are taking strong action on knife crime, banning lethal weapons and working to ensure that dangerous blades do not end up in the wrong hands. This September, it became illegal to possess zombie-style knives and machetes, and we are bringing forward legislation to ban the ninja swords to which he refers.