‘Losing battle’ in fight against fly-tipping gangs
The Government is fighting a losing battle against crime gangs who make cash from illegal fly-tipping, a new report suggests.
A National Audit Office (NAO) investigation shows a steady rise in organised, largescale waste crime in recent years as incentives for criminals have increased
It says increased costs for councilshavesparkedabigfall in waste being sent to landfill buthavealsoboostedthemoney criminals can make from illegal dumping and the number of reported fly-tipping incidents–mostofwhichinvolve small van-loads of household waste – has soared.
This, the NAO says, is costing local authorities £11.6m a year to clear up.
The report said that, while the Environment Agency receives dedicated Government funding to combat the issue, many other organisations involved in the fight do not and have instead seen their budgets slashed.
Meg Hillier MP, chairwomanofthePublicAccountsCommittee, said: "Waste crime is not a victimless crime and is increasingly being dominated by organised criminal gangs, but the Environment Agency is fighting a losing battle.
"With only £17m a year to spend on enforcement, it is seen as toothless to tackle the law-breaking and to bring criminals to book.”
NAO chief Gareth Davies said: "Defra and the Environment Agency agree that their data significantly understates thescaleofsometypesofwaste crime. The evidence available shows that waste crime is increasing, and organised criminals are becoming more involved.
"Government needs to target resources effectively and will need a robust set of performance measures to identify when actions are off-track."