PM orders crackdown on the criminal gangs profiting from illegal waste and blighting communities
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New crackdown unites government, regulators, police, local
government, and Mayors against criminal gangs behind illegal waste
sites
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officers on the frontline to seize criminals' cash, cars and houses
and fines for waste offences set to rise from £300 to £5,000 Comes
as government cleans up three of the country's worst illegal dumps
as part of Prime Minister's promise to bring hope back to...Request free trial
The Prime Minister sets out new plan to shut down the criminal gangs running illegal waste sites, as part of his pledge to bring hope back to Britain's communities. Better use of drones, a bigger role for the police and the National Crime Agency, more Environment Agency officers on the front line, and a steep rise in fines will deter, catch, and punish those who dump illegally. Mayors will lead the effort in their own areas, with a reformed partnership between national and regional agencies and councils which will facilitate better intelligence and capability sharing at a local level. Alongside the enforcement package, the government is funding the clean-up of three more of the country's most serious illegal waste sites. Together, the sites contain around 22,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste and are harming an estimated 2,900 families. Sites were prioritised on scale, risk to nearby communities, environmental damage, and links to persistent non-compliance and organised waste crime. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: These toxic dumps have blighted communities for too long. I said we would clean them up and that's exactly what we're announcing today. The days of making easy money out of waste are over. We're giving authorities the powers to hunt down the people responsible. We will seize their assets and shut their operations down. These mountains of rubbish have been a clear sign to communities that politics hasn't been working for them or their area. This government is going to tackle the issues that have been ignored by Westminster for too long and bring back hope. These sites are often run by serious organised crime groups. That is why the government will be putting the full weight of law enforcement behind this effort, working with local authorities. The package builds on the Waste Crime Action Plan: clearing the sites that exist and stopping the next ones by going after the networks behind them. There will be nowhere to hide for waste criminals, as the PM's regional approach to devolution puts Mayors and council leaders in the driving seat of the fight to protect local communities. A new Waste Crime Crackdown Group, chaired by Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, will bring regulators and law enforcement together to dismantle criminal operations and deliver results. Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: This isn't just about people dumping rubbish. Large-scale waste sites are fuelled by serious, organised crime, and we need to use the full force of the law to tackle it and root it out at source. "Communities have been subjected to horrendous conditions and denied the pride they deserve in the places they call home. This ends now. "We are cleaning up sites, but we are also stopping the cycle, driving faster prevention and disruption, better intelligence, and stronger coordination across the system. West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester will be the first areas with new region-led approaches to waste crime, giving Mayors and council leaders the lead in co-ordinating councils, police, regulators, and other enforcement agencies. The arrangements build on the national partnership model of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, but with decisions driven by regional intelligence and by the communities worst affected. Tackling waste crime is part of the Prime Minister's mission to restore hope to Britain's neighbourhoods and prove that long-ignored problems can be fixed: immediate operational action, plus the longer-term capability to keep it fixed through regional multi-agency working, stronger national oversight, better intelligence and analysis, and sharper enforcement tools. We are giving the Environment Agency stronger powers to tackle waste crime. Rogue actors who dump waste illegally or fail to treat it correctly set to face fines of up to £5,000, up from the current maximum of £300. Those responsible for serious offences can already face much tougher sanctions, including prosecution and imprisonment. There will also be more officers on the frontline. The Environment Agency's capacity to hunt down and confiscate the cash, cars, houses, and other assets bought with the proceeds of waste crime will grow, and new powers in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will be used to speed up enforcement of confiscation orders. Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy said: "We know how much damage illegal waste sites do to the communities that live near them. By strengthening our intelligence and analysis capability, and working more closely with regional partners, Environment Agency teams across the country will be better placed to stay well ahead of the criminals behind this activity and support the recovery of the places we call home. The government continues the drive to clean up illegal dumps with three more sites have now been identified for clearance, subject to feasibility assessments:
On background:
New Environment Agency figures also show the scale of enforcement
already underway. Today the government announces the follow-up. Intelligence-led and aimed squarely at serious waste crime, it will target priority operators, vehicles, routes, and sites, concentrating resources on the highest-risk threats. Co-ordinated enforcement will interrupt criminal operations, cut off their profits, and stop them simply moving on somewhere else. Tackling waste is a top priority for this government. We've listened to the public, who have consistently called for stronger action, and we're now putting funding behind it to get this done. This will come from existing government budgets. |