Extract from Defra Questions: Organised Waste Crime - Feb 6

Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)

1. What steps her Department is taking to tackle organised waste crime. [900648]

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Theresa Villiers)

Waste crime blights local communities and our environment and this Government are determined to tackle it. Over the past six years, we have invested £60 million in measures to achieve that. Last month, we launched a joint unit for waste crime, led by the Environment Agency, and including the National Crime Agency HMRC and the police. This new unit will help us crack down on serious and organised crime in the waste sector.

Craig Tracey

Fly-tipping in particular is an issue that costs our local councils and landowners hundreds of thousands pounds annually to clear up, with rural communities particularly affected. Just last week, the village of Austrey in my constituency was targeted yet again. What additional resources and powers can we give our local authorities and police to eradicate this scourge once and for all?

Theresa Villiers

I fully appreciate how strongly my hon. Friend’s constituents feel about that issue, as do mine in Barnet. We are giving local authorities additional powers through our Environment Bill to tackle fly-tipping. We have also already enhanced their powers to search and seize vehicles, which may be involved in this menace, and we have granted them power to issue fixed penalty notices, and I encourage them to use those powers.