Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
Eighteenth Report - Government actions to combat waste crime
Published 19 Oct 2022
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Government actions to combat waste crime All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Stakeholders emphasised the need to ensure timely, effective delivery and implementation of the government’s initiatives. The Environmental Services Association wrote that tighter requirements to prevent criminals entering the sector “must be developed and pushed through with urgency”, while ADEPT also supports improving data to help expose rogue operators.29 Large waste company SUEZ wrote that new legislation needs to be supported by the resources to implement it effectively, including sufficient monitoring and enforcement.30 NFU evidence made clear that improving user experience and willingness to report waste crime requires fundamental change, telling us that a single reporting mechanism is needed to reduce frustration and confusion, as is feedback following a report.31 The Agency has said publicly that its new approach to tackling waste crime is “a lot more high-tech”, citing use of drones and heat-sensitive 19 Qq 5–6 20 Qq 2, 5–6, 29 21 C&AG’s Report, para 1.2 22 Q 2 23 Qq 3, 81; C&AG’s Report, para 1.2 24 Qq 48–49 25 Qq 5–6; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.3 and 3.4 26 Qq 5, 43, 49 27 Q 3 28 Q 2 29 GWC0003 (ESA); GWC0006 (ADEPT) 30 GWC0007 (SUEZ) 31 GWC0004 (NFU England and Wales) 12 Government actions to combat waste crime cameras.32 Equivalent bodies in other UK nations have explored using satellite data to improve data on waste crime: both the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Wales have trialled the use of satellites to discover waste crime.33 Delivering an IT project critical to the waste strategy
From: Public Accounts Committee, Eighteenth Report - Government actions to combat waste crime (HC 33), 19 October 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 December 2022 (deadline 19 December 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations on waste crime, listing most as "implemented" and giving target dates for others.
- On the Resources and Waste Strategy, the government agrees with the recommendation, while noting that "some delivery has been slower than originally planned"; it lists planned reforms including digital waste tracking and reform of the waste carriers, brokers and dealers' regime, both "planned for 2024".
- On landfill tax, the government agrees and says the Landfill Tax Review would consider the structure of the tax and "the impacts of any proposed changes to this on waste crime"; HMRC is to report on its approach to investigations, with a target date of December 2022.
- On sanctions, the government agrees and notes that the Sentencing Council is responsible for sentencing guidance and the courts make "independent decisions"; the department "intends to conduct new research" into enforcement of small scale fly-tipping, "anticipated to commence in early 2023".
- On the digital waste tracking contract, the government agrees; it is "anticipated that the contract will be let by the end of 2022" and the department "will write to inform the Committee" when this happens.