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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the reporting of waste crime in rural communities.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england, this data excludes the majority of private-land incidents.

We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land.

Suspected illegal waste activity can be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers through their dedicated website https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously or by calling 0800 555 111. Alternatively, the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline is available on 0800 80 70 60 and fly-tipping can be reported here https://www.gov.uk/report-flytipping.