Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the level of illegal waste disposal in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the last 12 months the Environment Agency (EA) has received six reports of illegal waste disposal in the London Borough of Enfield. There were three reports of small-scale burning which were all referred to the council, and where two addresses were identified as carrying out burning, letters were sent. There was one small-scale fly tipping incident in the N9 area which was also referred to Enfield Council due to the impact on the highways, and two major fly tipping incidents in the N11 and N18 areas. The EA currently has no outstanding investigations in the illegal disposal of waste in the Enfield area.
The EA continues to work closely with internal and external stakeholders across London and the Southeast to initiate partnership solutions to the multi-faceted issues we deal with, often involving significant investigations of various strands to not only disrupt criminal activity but to hold to account those responsible.
In addition, local authorities are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which we publish annually here.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of waste disposal charges on fly-tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, we commissioned research into the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping. It suggested that any friction in the services provided by local authorities, such as charges for waste disposal services, may impact on levels of fly-tipping. The report is available at Science Search (defra.gov.uk).
We believe it is important that local residents are able to dispose of their rubbish in a responsible and convenient manner. That is why last year we consulted on preventing charges for householders to dispose of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres. The government response was published on 18 June and we will be introducing legislation at the end of the year.
In our Waste Prevention Programme: Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste, we have committed to consult by 2025 on removing the fee for consumers to have bulky domestic furniture collected from their homes. This will make it easier for them to do the right thing with their items when they are no longer required.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce fly-tipping on private land in rural areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We appreciate the difficulty and cost that fly-tipping poses to landowners. We are working with a wide range of interested parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, such as the National Farmers Union, Environment Agency, Country Land and Business Association, National Police Chief's Council and local authorities, to promote and disseminate good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land.
As part of the Government’s commitment to unleash rural opportunity, we will fund a post within the new National Rural Crime Unit to explore how the police’s role in tacking fly-tipping can be optimised, with a focus on rural areas.
Across two rounds of our fly-tipping grant scheme, we have awarded nearly £1.2m to help more than 30 councils purchase equipment, such as CCTV, to tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots, including in rural areas. We have recently launched another grant opportunity that could see a further £1m handed out in grants next year to help more councils tackle the issue.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support local councils in tackling fly-tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The PM’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will help councils take tougher action against those who fly-tip. This includes significantly raising the upper limit on the penalties councils can issue to £1,000 for fly-tipping and £600 for householders who give their waste to an unauthorised carrier, which we did in July. We have also increased transparency on the use of these penalties by publishing league tables and consulted stakeholders on ringfencing the money raised from these penalties for enforcement and clean up activity.
This builds on the £1.2m Defra has provided in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects cracking down on fly-tipping. A selection of case studies from round one are available online so that others can learn about those interventions which were most successful. These can be found at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme. We have recently launched another grant opportunity that could see a further £1m handed out in grants to help more councils tackle the issue.
With the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we are developing a toolkit to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. So far, the group has published a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how to set up and run effective local partnerships. The toolkit, and other resources, are available online at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the level of illegal waste disposal in Erith and Thamesmead constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s Kent and South London enforcement team respond to reports of illegal disposal of waste and seeks to take proactive and targeted action within the Erith and Thamesmead area.
In the last 12 months the Environment Agency have received two reports of illegal disposal of waste in the Erith and Thamesmead area. Both reports concern the illegal disposal of commercial waste by burning. The Environment Agency attended one site and since this visit, have received no further reports of burning from this location. In the case of the second report, the Environment Agency issued a letter giving advice and guidance on waste disposal to the business address of the company suspected of the burning. Since this letter was sent, they have received no further reports of burning. The Environment Agency currently have no active investigations into the illegal disposal of waste in Erith and Thamesmead area.
The Environment Agency also conducts proactive days of action to target specific waste offences and waste streams. The last day of action was held on the 18 September 2023 covering the Erith and Thamesmead areas in the London borough of Bexley. The operation was conducted in partnership with officers from Environment Agency, Metropolitan Police, Openreach and the London Borough of Bexley. The purpose was to target uninsured/unlicensed drivers and hauliers believed to be engaged in illegal waste activities. Based on intelligence the focus was on scrap metal dealers known to be operating in the Thamesmead area. The day gathered valuable intelligence and enforcement action was taken against several un-registered waste carriers.
Additionally, the latest fly-tipping incident data held by Defra shows that in 2021/22 the London Borough of Bexley reported a total of 5096 fly-tipping incidents and the London Borough of Greenwich reported a total of 8666 fly-tipping incidents. In response to these reports 407 actions were taken by the London Borough of Bexley and 918 actions by the London Borough of Greenwich.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to help tackle waste crime in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which is a blight on our local communities and the environment and damages legitimate businesses. We have strengthened regulators' powers, are tightening the law and have increased the Environment Agency's budget by £10 million per year to make it harder for rogue operators to find work in the sector and easier for regulators to take action against criminals. The Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan set out how we will support councils across the country to take tougher action against those who fly-tip such as by raising the upper limit on fixed penalty notices to £1,000, which we did earlier this year. As part of the plan, we have also published league tables showing which councils are issuing the most and least fixed penalties in relation to fly-tipping.
The Environment Agency continues to work in partnership with the local authority in tackling waste crime, including investigating two large fly-tips in North Enfield.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fly tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The PM’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will help councils take tougher action against those who fly-tip. We significantly raised the upper limit of on-the-spot fines in July, to £1,000 for fly-tipping and £600 for householders who give their waste to an unauthorised waste carrier. We have also increased transparency on the use of these fines by publishing league tables on fly-tipping enforcement and consulted stakeholders on ringfencing the money raised from fines for enforcement and clean up activity.
This builds on the £1.2m Defra has provided in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects cracking down on fly-tipping. We intend to launch another grant opportunity for councils later this year.
With the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we are developing a toolkit to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. So far, the group has published a guide on how to present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how to set up and run effective local partnerships. The toolkit, and other resources, are available online at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on how to (a) prevent and (b) dispose of fly-tipping in public (i) parks and (ii) green spaces.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. Together we have produced various guides on tackling fly-tipping and the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and others.
More recently, we have been developing a fly-tipping toolkit with the NFTPG. So far, the group has published a guide on how councils and others can present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how they can set up and run effective local partnerships to prevent fly-tipping. These, and other materials, are available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
In addition to this, Defra has provided £1.2 million in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects aimed at tackling fly-tipping. Case studies from round one have been made available at the link above so other councils can learn about those interventions which were most successful. We intend to launch another grant opportunity for councils later this year.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help prevent rural crime in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to driving down rural crime. Whether someone lives in the countryside, a town, or a city, they should have the same peace of mind when going about their daily lives, and they should get the same high-quality service from the police if they fall victim to a crime.
While it is for Chief Constables to decide how to allocate their resources, funding available for the Metropolitan Police will be up to £3,343.9m in 2023/24, an increase of up to £102.3m when compared to 2022/23. Overall police funding available to PCCs will increase by up to £550.2 million this year. As at 31 March 2023, there were 35,411 police officers in the Metropolitan Police Service, a total growth of 3,468 additional officers since the start of the Police Uplift Programme.
In addition to the funding for forces, the Government has provided £287,037 for the National Wildlife Crime Unit and £200,000 for the new National Rural Crime Unit during this financial year. This will support all forces in their response to rural crimes such as theft of farming construction machinery, livestock theft and rural fly tipping. Funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit is in addition to funding provided on a long-term basis for the National Rural Crime Unit.
The Government has also acted to address specific points of concern raised by stakeholders in relation to rural crime and it supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023. The Act aims to prevent the theft of all-terrain vehicles such as quad bikes, by requiring immobilisers and forensic markings to be fitted as standard to all new all-terrain vehicles.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the theft of farm (a) equipment and (b) machinery.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to driving down rural crime. We are working closely with the police, industry and others to ensure we are collectively doing everything we can to drive down acquisitive crime, including the theft of agricultural machinery and vehicles.
The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which gained Royal Assent on 20 July. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.
The Home Office committed to provide one-off funding of £200,000 to the National Rural Crime Unit this year to assist with set up costs of the new unit. The NRCU will provide support to forces nationally in their responses to rural crime, such as the theft of farming or construction machinery, livestock theft, rural fly tipping, rural fuel theft and equine crime.