Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
Defra and the Agency told us about a range of initiatives to improve data, including...
Recommendation
Defra and the Agency told us about a range of initiatives to improve data, including recent consultations on introducing digital waste tracking and reforming the system for registering as a waste carrier, broker or dealer.26 The Agency told us it was working more closely with the legitimate waste industry to get a handle on the extent and nature of waste crime, and seeking to encourage members of the public to report waste crime.27 Defra said it had supported development of apps to enable public reporting of fly-tipping. Nonetheless, Defra told us it needed an external contractor to carry out further work looking at gaps in data later this year, in order to “get us on a programme” for data improvement.28
Government Response Summary
Defra and the agency are working together to improve existing data sets, commissioning new surveys and research if necessary, and will explore a full range of solutions to data weaknesses including satellite technology.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2a. PAC recommendation: Defra [and the agency] needs to explore the full range of potential solutions to data weaknesses, including for example satellite technology, and ensure successful delivery of existing initiatives to improve data; where these initiatives rely on public reporting there should be appropriate capacity to follow up reported incidents. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 2.2 The department and the agency are working together to improve existing data sets to better capture the extent of crime and fraud, commissioning new surveys and research if necessary. 2.3 The department made a commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) to publish an evaluation plan to evaluate policies introduced through the RWS, including waste crime, and has appointed a consortium led by Ipsos to take this forward. The first element of this, to be published imminently, reports on progress in the RWS evaluation programme. The department is also committed to publishing a framework of indicators annually to track progress towards objectives set out in the strategy. This includes indicators for waste crime – for example indicators on illegal waste sites, fly-tipping, littering. 2.4 Within the evaluation plan for the RWS, a theory of change has been developed for the outcome ‘reducing waste crime’ to identify how to measure the department's impact. This will then be used to identify corresponding indicators needed to evaluate our progress on reducing waste crime. Existing data and metrics will be reviewed and mapped against the evaluation indicators and if there are any indicators where data is unavailable, a monitoring plan will be developed outlining the method and frequency of data collection and analysis. It is expected these gaps will be filled through surveys, data modelling, alternative data sets or proxies, although a full range of potential solutions will be explored.