Environment Agency too weak to tackle illegal waste dumping, MPs say

The Environment Agency is too weak to tackle an “out-of-control plague” of waste dumping, a powerful group of MPs has said.

The public accounts committee (PAC) said the EA had gaps in its powers and intelligence gathering which meant it was not set up to deal effectively with the rise in waste dumping.

“The widespread and increasing issue of illegal waste sites surpasses the EA’s powers,” the committee wrote in a report published on Wednesday.

The UK faces a growing epidemic of illegal waste dumping, which makes the perpetrators millions of pounds. There are at least 8,000 illegal dumps across the country, according to recent research, and several large-scale tips containing between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes of household rubbish and other waste.

These include a dump at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, a tip near a primary school outside Wigan, and a huge dump site at Hoad’s Wood in Kent. The EA is only clearing two of them. Organised criminals are heavily involved in illegal dumping, which costs the taxpayers £1bn a year, according to evidence presented to the House of Lords.

The PAC said the EA was not gathering or acting on intelligence about about the practice quickly enough. Highlighting the illegal dumping in Kidlington, alongside the River Cherwell, last autumn, the report said the agency acted after it had received “confirmed intelligence”.

This was weeks after local bodies had become aware of the problem.

The case illustrated the gaps in intelligence on this type of criminality, the report said, and highlighted how the EA lacked the ability to collaborate effectively with other authorities.

Among a number of recommendations, the report said the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) should establish closer cooperation and intelligence sharing between the EA, local authorities, police and other agencies on illegal waste dumping risks.

It also said the potential for technology to improve response times should be examined in cases where illegal activity affected the environment.

MPs on the committee said their inquiry had suggested regulators were not up to the task of tackling illegal waste dumping on such a scale, and that the problem was just one example of how they were too stretched to protect nature.

The inquiry came ahead of expected changes to the system of environmental regulation operated by Defra, the EA and Natural England. But the changes were not being well coordinated, according to the committee, which said it was sceptical that regulators had the resources or skills to manage the transformation.

The PAC chair, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said the committee’s report had found that the regulators were “not sufficiently resourced to follow this multiplicity of recommendations, while still carrying out their responsibilities towards the environment”.

There were obvious and glaring problems with how environmental regulation was delivered, he said. “The public does not need our committee to remind it of ongoing issues with illegal waste dumping and sewage pollution of our rivers. Nor do farmers need reminding of the complexity of the systems within which they are obliged to work.”

Changes to the regulatory regime include a new water regulator and a national nature recovery fund set up to allow developers to pay fees to sidestep environmental obligations at protected sites in order to build more quickly.

Clifton-Brown said: “It is welcome to hear the government will be attempting to arm the EA and councils with greater powers of enforcement, but without deeper cooperation with police and local authorities, illegal waste is still liable to be an out-of-control plague on our communities.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “This report was out of date before it was even published. It does not reflect the significant reforms already under way, or new actions to give regulators the tools, powers and investment they need to protect nature and drive growth.

“This includes publishing our waste crime action plan to crack down on the criminals blighting our communities, investing in the Environment Agency to boost monitoring and investigations for water quality, and backing British farmers with the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history.

“Earlier in March, we set a clear new direction for the Environment Agency and Natural England to prioritise outcomes over process, and invested £100m in specialist staff and modern digital systems so decisions are faster, smarter and cut costly delays.”