Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
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)
We heard of recent actions and successes in combatting landfill tax evasion. HMRC has increased the number of its officials that are working on landfill tax compliance and it assured us that it works with the largest businesses to secure around 80% of total landfill tax revenue. It claimed that it has saved around £1.1 billion in landfill tax over the last few years that would potentially have been lost through misinterpretation of the legislation.60 It is engaging with HM Treasury’s current review of landfill tax. The Environment Agency (the Agency) told us it is also tackling landfill tax evasion – around two years ago it started investigating misdescription of waste and has been working more closer with HMRC. It described how it has recently tackled waste operators that fraudulently apply for a water 52 Qq 22, 58 53 Q 58; C&AG’s Report, para 1.5 54 Q 77; C&AG’s Report, Figure 3 55 Qq 22, 81; C&AG’s Report, para 13 56 Q 19; GWC0003 (Environmental Services Association) 57 Qq 19–22 58 Qq 52–54 59 Qq 55, 57, 65, 75 60 Q 58 Government actions to combat waste crime 15 discount—a reduction in the amount of landfill tax paid to offset the water content of waste—resulting in a significant drop in applications and recouping some of the estimated £200 million lost through this type of fraud.61 Deterring waste crime
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.