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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) prosecutions, and (2) convictions, have been obtained in each of the last five years for discharging (a) general garbage, (b) plastic materials, and (c) fishing nets, into natural waters in England.

The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. In December 2018, we published the Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how we want to achieve this and move towards a circular economy while stamping out waste crime. We also committed in the Strategy to consult on measures such as Extended Producer Responsibility for fishing gear.

The number of prosecutions and convictions on discharging (a) general garbage, (b) plastic materials, and (c) fishing nets, into natural waters in England are not centrally held in the court proceedings database as these specific offences are not separately defined in legislation. Identifying prosecutions and convictions for such actions would require a manual search of court records, which would incur disproportionate costs.

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 it is an offence to litter or to knowingly cause or permit the unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste.

Published figures for prosecutions and convictions for these offences are available in the Home Office code principal offence tool at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx

It is important to note that these numbers include all prosecutions and convictions that fall within each offence category, beyond those specifically requested and beyond just natural waterways.

Defra also publishes annual statistics for fly-tipping, which include enforcement actions. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england

Under the Merchant Shipping Regulations on the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships (2020), the discharge of all garbage into the sea is prohibited with very limited exceptions. In all cases the discharge of plastic is prohibited. These regulations bring the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships (MARPOL Annex V) into UK law. No data has yet been collected for these regulations.