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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance the Environment Agency provides landowners to help them prevent illegal waste sites from being established on their land.

The Environment Agency (EA) asks that landowners report illegal waste activity immediately on its 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to enable early intervention.

The EA will investigate illegal waste activity to, where possible, identify the perpetrator and require them to clear the waste, taking appropriate enforcement action to punish and deter.

The EA collaborates with partners such as National Farmers Union and Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors to run communication campaigns aimed at educating landowners. We work with partners locally such as rural police crime teams to raise awareness and share information to combat waste crime.

The EA encourages landowners to check empty land and property regularly to ensure it is secure, stopping criminals from gaining access.