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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of landfill sites.

No recent formal assessment has been made, although published Environment Agency data (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-activities-regulated-by-the-environment-agency-2022/review-of-activities-regulated-by-the-environment-agency-2022 ) shows that there are only a handful of serious pollution incidents from landfill sites each year. The regulatory framework in place is designed to serve operators and protect the local community. Where poor performance does occur the Environment Agency has a range of powers to bring sites back into compliance and, where necessary, to take enforcement action against operators. These enforcement powers include the use of civil sanction Stop Notices under the Regulatory and Enforcement Sanctions Act 2008, and the ability to suspend or revoke an environmental permit, or to close a site down where there is evidence of harm or risk to the environment or human health under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) 2016 Regulations, as well as to take criminal prosecutions under that legislation.