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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing duty of care requirements for senior executives to make them personally liable for the consequences of mismanagement that leads to (a) fly-tipping and (b) unlicensed handling of waste.

Waste crime damages the environment, is a blight on local communities and the Government is committed to tackling this criminal activity.

Whilst we have made no specific assessment of these proposals, the Resource and Waste Strategy published in 2018 sets out an ambitious package of reforms to modernise the way waste is regulated, by clamping down on illegal operators and improving performance across the sector. This included a commitment to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult early next year. The reform aims to improve competence in waste management and transportation and deter illegitimate operators from entering the sector. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and reduce the incidence of fly-tipping and other waste crimes.

The Environment Bill also provides a significant step forward in delivering a number of the commitments set out in the Strategy. The provisions in the Environment Bill will ensure agencies and authorities can work more effectively to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry.