Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
We queried why the number of successful prosecutions has dropped dramatically over the past 15...
Recommendation
We queried why the number of successful prosecutions has dropped dramatically over the past 15 years and why investigations were taking longer and longer.72 The Agency told us that prosecutions, despite their potential effectiveness at deterring waste crime, are a last resort because they tend to be slow, complex and expensive, and the Agency needs to use and target its resources in the best way to address and prevent the huge array of waste crime. The Agency’s strategy is to go after the worst criminals who do the most damage, and this requires higher evidential standards and, inevitably, longer investigations.73 HMRC is even more reticent to prosecute, predominantly using civil sanctions and seeking to promote good compliance.74 We heard from HMRC that it has learnt the lessons from its only, and failed, attempt to prosecute for landfill tax evasion to date, Operation Nosedive. It now works much better with the Agency on complex investigations through the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and has improved the quality of the evidence it gathers.75 The Agency also confirmed it has learnt lessons from Operation Nosedive, and assured us that its staff are committed to combatting waste crime despite the huge challenges of the job, including threats and actual assaults.76
Government Response Summary
Defra, the Agency and HMRC should work with relevant bodies within the criminal justice system to develop a plan for making enforcement more effective across the full spectrum of waste crime, including how to speed the process up and consideration of whether the sentencing guidelines need strengthening.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4. PAC conclusion: The current sanctions are not effective in deterring people from committing waste crime. 4. PAC recommendation: Defra, the Agency and HMRC should work with relevant bodies within the criminal justice system to develop a plan for making enforcement more effective across the full spectrum of waste crime. This should include how to speed the process up and consideration of whether the sentencing guidelines need strengthening. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 4.2 The Sentencing Council is a statutory body responsible for issuing sentencing guidance for use by the Courts. It must consult those it considers appropriate in developing those guidelines. The Courts will make independent decisions on the sentences to hand down to convicted offenders and will refer to the sentencing guidelines to help them reach their decisions. 4.3 The government aims to be more effective by reducing the drivers for waste offending, preventing opportunities for offending and improving deterrents. The agency is now working further upstream to prevent crime and harm before it happens. The agency approach is more intelligence-led. The 80/20 rule is applied, focusing on the worst criminals and the biggest environmental harms; the agency takes a national approach, focusing on the biggest threats across the country. 4.4 In 2019, the Joint Unit for Waste Crime was also formed with a remit to identify, disrupt and deter waste crime. Members include Natural Resources Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the police, the National Crime Agency, HM Revenue & Customs and the British Transport Police. 4.5 The penalties for agency prosecutions have increased since the introduction of the sentencing guidelines which came into force in July 2014, and in the imposition of custodial sentences. The most serious waste offenders are made the subject of immediate or suspended custodial sentences and the agency sees a deterrent value in such sentences. 4.6 To support sentences that properly reflect the severity of smaller scale incidents, the department has worked with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to produce a guide on how councils and others can present robust prosecutions. 4.7 The department intends to conduct new research into the effectiveness of the current enforcement regime for small scale fly-tipping. This work is anticipated to commence in early 2023.