Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What steps he is taking to help tackle fly-tipping.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

7. What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.

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[Mary Creagh]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend—[Interruption.] I hear enthusiasm for his comments from both sides of the House. Rochdale council has an exemplary record on fly-tipping, with 26 fixed-penalty notices and 12 prosecutions, which is admirable. Last week, the Environment Agency worked with the north-west regional organised crime unit to arrest two men in Manchester for fraud and money laundering, following an extensive investigation into packaging export notes used by law-abiding firms to export waste that were unlawfully sold for £747,000. Our message to the waste criminals is clear: we are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill, and we are going to track them down.

[Rachel Hopkins]

Fly-tipping is a scourge on local communities and a drain on council resources, be they rural councils, like Central Bedfordshire, or town councils, like Luton, in my constituency. Most recent figures show that there were over 10,000 fly-tipping incidents in Luton alone in 2023-24, but does the Minister agree that we need a co-ordinated approach between the Department, local authorities and the police to deliver a holistic strategy to tackle fly-tipping?

[Mary Creagh]

It is clear that my hon. Friend is right. Luton has a particular problem with fly-tipping, but the council has been doing good work, with 263 fixed-penalty notices and 32 prosecutions. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs chairs the national fly-tipping prevention group, and we work with a wide range of interested parties, including councils, the Environment Agency, the National Farmers Union and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to disseminate good practice, and I urge Luton to join us in that endeavour.

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[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this important issue. This Government have already banned machetes. We are introducing legislation that will clamp down on the sale of dangerous knives online, and we are committed to banning ninja swords, too. I recently met the CPS’s victim transformation programme and heard how the CPS is fundamentally transforming the way it provides support to victims to ensure that they get the assistance they need at every stage of the criminal justice process.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

8. What steps she is taking to help ensure the effective prosecution of serious and violent crime in Luton South and South Bedfordshire constituency.

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that question. The Government are taking decisive action to crack down on serious and violent crime right across the country, and to ensure that perpetrators of such offences are put behind bars. As such, I welcome her strong support for the Crime and Policing Bill, which contains tough measures to tackle knife crime and other crime.

[Rachel Hopkins]

Sadly, Bedfordshire police recorded some of the highest knife crime rates in England in the year ending March 2024. A robust and quick CPS response is key to delivering justice for victims and their families. How are the Government ensuring that we increase prosecution rates for those serious offences to keep dangerous offenders off our streets?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises a critical issue that affects communities in Bedfordshire and across the country. An important part of the Government’s mission to make our streets safe is our commitment to halving knife crime in a decade. We have implemented our ban on zombie-style knives and machetes, and we are moving forward with our plans to ban ninja swords later this year. We know that more needs to be done to tackle the sale of knives and offensive weapons online, which is why we have recently announced Ronan’s law, which will include stricter rules for online knife sales.