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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has she has taken to tackle waste-related crime in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Greater Manchester.

The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which is a blight on our local communities and the environment and damages legitimate businesses. We have strengthened regulators' powers, are tightening the law and have increased the Environment Agency's budget by £10 million per year to make it harder for rogue operators to find work in the sector and easier for regulators to take action against criminals. We are also providing grants to councils across the country to help them purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping. Recipients include Manchester City Council.

From January 2022 to date, 7% of incidents reported to the Environment Agency for the region that covers Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, were recorded as illegal waste sites and 0.1% related to the Stockport area. The majority of the reports for Stockport were closed, as unsubstantiated or with the Environment Agency providing advice and guidance detailing the relevant legislation, their obligations, how to return to compliance and the consequences of not doing so.

Within Greater Manchester, there are six cases subject to legal proceedings and nine active investigations into illegal waste crime. Between April 2022 to March 2023 the Environment Agency closed 15 illegal waste sites across Greater Manchester, 7 of which were high risk.