Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers public authorities have to restrict vehicular access to Sites of Special Scientific Interest that span multiple land ownerships where ecological damage is taking place.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All public bodies have a statutory duty to take reasonable steps to further the conservation and enhancement of the special features of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), including where an SSSI spans multiple landownerships. Natural England (NE) works with all relevant parties to ensure appropriate protection is in place.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provides the main framework for protecting SSSIs. It controls operations likely to damage an SSSI’s special features and includes enforcement powers to stop harmful activities, including those involving vehicles.
Any owner or occupier of land on a SSSI who wishes to carry out, or permit others to carry out, an activity likely to damage an SSSI, must obtain consent from NE. Failing to do so is an offence in the absence of a reasonable excuse. NE has various powers in such circumstances, including a power to issue enforcement notices, and require restoration. These consent procedures provide NE with powers to restrict or regulate vehicular access to SSSIs where ecological damage has occurred or is at risk.
In addition, section 28R of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 enables NE to make byelaws for the protection of SSSIs, which could include restricting vehicular entry.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information her Department and its arm’s-length bodies hold on the number of recorded fly-tipping incidents in England in 2023–24 that occurred on or adjacent to woodland.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually here. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.
Defra regularly evaluates the data on fly-tipping incidents we collect from local authorities. There are no current plans to require local authorities to report additional data on fly-tipping to Defra.
While the Environment Agency (EA) collects data on the land type at the location of an illegal dumping incident and its environmental impact, the EA does not routinely collect data on whether it is a woodland area or the specific habitat type.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to improve the collection of data on the environmental impacts of fly-tipping on habitats.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually here. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.
Defra regularly evaluates the data on fly-tipping incidents we collect from local authorities. There are no current plans to require local authorities to report additional data on fly-tipping to Defra.
While the Environment Agency (EA) collects data on the land type at the location of an illegal dumping incident and its environmental impact, the EA does not routinely collect data on whether it is a woodland area or the specific habitat type.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether local authorities are required to record the habitat type affected by each reported fly-tipping incident.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually here. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.
Defra regularly evaluates the data on fly-tipping incidents we collect from local authorities. There are no current plans to require local authorities to report additional data on fly-tipping to Defra.
While the Environment Agency (EA) collects data on the land type at the location of an illegal dumping incident and its environmental impact, the EA does not routinely collect data on whether it is a woodland area or the specific habitat type.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recorded incidents of fly-tipping in each of the last five years took place in or adjacent to areas designated as (a) Sites of Special Scientific Interest, (b) Special Protection Areas and (c) Special Areas of Conservation.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fly-tipping (or the illegal dumping of waste) should generally be reported to the relevant local authority wherever it occurs (see guidance at https://www.gov.uk/report-flytipping). Local authorities and the Environment Agency have existing powers to require landowners to clear fly-tipped waste from their land.
With regard to statutory protected sites ie (a) Sites of Special Scientific Interest, (b) Special Protection Areas and (c) Special Areas of Conservation, Natural England would be dependent on direct observations or reports shared from other public bodies or other stakeholders. Please note that all non-marine Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation will be underpinned by Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England may be more likely to be informed about incidents within protected sites than adjacent to. The numbers of ‘dumping cases’* recorded by Natural England from the last five years are shown in the table below:
Year | No. Dumping cases |
2018-22 | 10 |
2022-23 | 3 |
2023-24 | 0 |
2024-25 | 6 |
This is based on Natural England’s casework tracker and published enforcement reports, which does not easily enable cases to be listed separately by protected site type. These cases will relate to Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
* Natural England does not explicitly record fly tipping but it is recorded within a ‘Dumping’ category which could also include land owners using sites to store waste.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers public authorities have to restrict vehicular access to Sites of Special Scientific Interest where ecological damage has been, or is being, wilfully caused.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All public bodies have a statutory duty to take reasonable steps to further the conservation and enhancement of the special features of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), including where an SSSI spans multiple landownerships. Natural England (NE) works with all relevant parties to ensure appropriate protection is in place.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provides the main framework for protecting SSSIs. It controls operations likely to damage an SSSI’s special features and includes enforcement powers to stop harmful activities, including those involving vehicles.
Any owner or occupier of land on a SSSI who wishes to carry out, or permit others to carry out, an activity likely to damage an SSSI, must obtain consent from NE. Failing to do so is an offence in the absence of a reasonable excuse. NE has various powers in such circumstances, including a power to issue enforcement notices, and require restoration. These consent procedures provide NE with powers to restrict or regulate vehicular access to SSSIs where ecological damage has occurred or is at risk.
In addition, section 28R of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 enables NE to make byelaws for the protection of SSSIs, which could include restricting vehicular entry.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the extent to which large-scale fly-tipping incidents, including transit van loads, tipper lorry loads, and significant or multiple-load incidents, have occurred on woodland habitat.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually here. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.
Defra regularly evaluates the data on fly-tipping incidents we collect from local authorities. There are no current plans to require local authorities to report additional data on fly-tipping to Defra.
While the Environment Agency (EA) collects data on the land type at the location of an illegal dumping incident and its environmental impact, the EA does not routinely collect data on whether it is a woodland area or the specific habitat type.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the extent to which fly-tipping incidents occur on or adjacent to woodland habitat on (a) council-owned land, (b) footpaths and bridleways, and (c) other land types.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually here. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.
Defra regularly evaluates the data on fly-tipping incidents we collect from local authorities. There are no current plans to require local authorities to report additional data on fly-tipping to Defra.
While the Environment Agency (EA) collects data on the land type at the location of an illegal dumping incident and its environmental impact, the EA does not routinely collect data on whether it is a woodland area or the specific habitat type.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency records information on habitat type or proximity to woodland when investigating fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping incidents.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually here. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is currently being processed.
Local authorities are required to report to Defra the size of a fly-tipping incident, its waste type and the land-type where it occurred. However, this does not cover if the area is a particular habitat or a woodland.
Defra regularly evaluates the data on fly-tipping incidents we collect from local authorities. There are no current plans to require local authorities to report additional data on fly-tipping to Defra.
While the Environment Agency (EA) collects data on the land type at the location of an illegal dumping incident and its environmental impact, the EA does not routinely collect data on whether it is a woodland area or the specific habitat type.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of unmanaged vegetation fuel loads on upland peatland and the severity of wildfires.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Healthy peatlands do not require active vegetation management such as burning or cutting. There is clear scientific evidence that burning is particularly damaging, as it degrades peatland conditions, undermines restoration and increases long-term vulnerability to wildfires. In response, the Government amended the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021 in September last year to extend protections to more peatlands. Alongside these changes the Heather and Grass Management Code 2025 was published to support land managers selecting appropriate management approaches that reduce peatland damage, support restoration and enhance natural resilience to hazards such as wildfire.
In addition, a two-year research project, Wildfire and Peatland: Studies to Support Delivery of the Third National Adaptation Programme, has been commissioned. This work will inform delivery of the Government’s risk‑reduction objectives by identifying effective approaches for maintaining healthy, functioning peatlands and improving the resilience of these important carbon stores under future climate conditions.