Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many waste crime officers are currently employed by the Environment Agency; and how many large-scale illegal waste sites have a designated waste crime officer assigned to them.

There are 331 full-time employees directly involved in waste crime. This number includes officers in the Area and National operational teams who respond to illegal waste sites, prevent and disrupt waste crime at sites in England, prevent illegal exports of waste to other countries, conduct criminal investigations and combat fraud and money laundering related to waste regimes.

The Environment Agency does not designate a waste crime officer to individual sites. Instead, teams work together to respond to reports of illegal waste sites.