Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what collaborative frameworks are in place between her Department, law enforcement agencies, and local authorities to support the effective implementation and enforcement of digital waste tracking, particularly in areas with high levels of illegal dumping.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Digital waste tracking is one of the major structural reforms being implemented under the Waste Crime Action Plan to design waste crime out of the system and will apply to waste operators in all areas of the UK. Defra is leading the delivery of the Action Plan, working closely with the Environment Agency (EA) as the national lead for waste crime, alongside HMRC, the Home Office, police forces and local authorities, ensuring coordinated action.
The EA is working diligently with Defra and the other regulators and governments of the four nations to engage with the waste industry, local authorities and affected parties. This is in addition to working to develop a range of measures that cover preventative actions, faster identification of illegal activity and robust enforcement actions to maximise the potential of Digital Waste Tracking and combat waste crime across the country.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what weight is given to environmental harm when determining penalties for waste crime.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The sentencing guidelines for waste crime offences take into account environmental harm, for example, if there is polluting material of a dangerous nature and if there will be any effect on air or water quality, amenity value or animal health or flora. The Waste Crime Action Plan commits Defra to working with the Ministry of Justice and their partners to explore whether penalties for waste crime offences reflect the severity of the crime, and if not, what more can be done to ensure that those who commit these offences will face appropriate punishment. Any changes will build on the existing penalties regime.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what penalties are currently in place for waste crime; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of those penalties in reflecting the full environmental and social impacts of such offences.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The Government is taking a firm, zero‑tolerance approach to waste crime, ensuring penalties reflect the harm caused. The Waste Crime Action Plan commits Defra to working with the Ministry of Justice to review whether existing penalties, including fines, are sufficiently robust and to strengthen them where needed. The Crime and Policing Act also introduces penalty points for vehicle-based fly-tipping, improving deterrence and targeting repeat offenders. We will shortly consult on giving local authorities powers to issue conditional cautions, providing a wider range of effective, community-based sanctions.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the Digital Waste Tracking system will be designed to identify the point at which waste becomes unaccounted for, leading to incidents of large-scale fly-tipping; and what safeguards will be implemented to address potential points of system failure.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Once fully implemented, the digital waste tracking service will require certain information about waste movements to be entered before the movement, followed by confirmation that a waste carrier has collected it and confirmation that it has been received at a waste receiving site.
If these confirmations are not provided, then this will highlight to regulators that this waste may have been ‘lost’ and been mismanaged through fly-tipping, deliberate misdescription or through an illegal waste site. We are working closely with software providers to enable seamless data integration via APIs, reducing manual input, and improving efficiency.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with police forces on using digital waste tracking data to investigate and disrupt criminal groups operating outside the regulated waste sector, particularly those not subject to Environment Agency oversight.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The Environment Agency (EA) is working with their internal compliance and enforcement teams and external partners to ensure we maximise the potential of Digital Waste Tracking to tackle waste crime. They are developing a range of measures that cover preventative actions, faster identification of illegal activity and robust enforcement actions.
The EA also hosts the Joint Unit for Waste Crime with partners including police forces, HMRC and the National Crime Agency, which is aimed at targeting illegal waste sites, illegal dumping, and related financial fraud. The Government is represented on the oversight board for the unit by Defra officials.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made with her Cabinet colleagues of the prevalence of wildlife fatalities in urban drainage systems; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing (a) amphibian ladders, (b) kerbs and (c) other wildlife escape measures in (i) new and (ii) existing drainage infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In June 2025, Government introduced new national standards, making clear how sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) should be designed and maintained. Standard 6 dictates SuDS should maximise biodiversity benefits.
Defra has not made a central estimate of wildlife fatalities in urban drainage systems, and responsibility for this issue sits across multiple bodies, including local authorities, highways authorities, and developers.
We recognise the importance of protecting wildlife and support the use of nature- based solutions where appropriate.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect the health of people using inland waters for recreation.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will bring forward legislation through the Clean Water Bill, announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May, to deliver major reforms to the water system.
Public health will be at the heart of these reforms, alongside measures to strengthen regulation, improve water quality and tackle pollution at source, as set out in the Water White Paper.
The Government recently designated 13 new bathing waters, including six river sites. Designated bathing waters are regularly monitored during the bathing season, and water quality results are published on the Swimfo website. This helps to protect public health, allowing individuals to make more informed decisions about when and where to enter the water.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to inland waters for responsible recreational users.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and encourages safe and responsible access to the countryside through the Countryside Code and support for nationwide water safety campaigns.
Public access onto around 3,400 miles of our regulated inland waterways, including several of the larger rivers, is available through the licensing regimes of the navigation authorities that own or manage them.
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, Defra committed to consulting on measures to ensure that everyone has access to nature close to home and to strengthen the public’s legal rights to access through an Access to Nature Green Paper to be published during this Parliament. This includes exploring the feasibility of increasing access onto unregulated waterways, and Defra is committed to working with stakeholders as this develops.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether steps will be taken to increase transparency in reporting on the allocation of revenue across infrastructure investment, executive remuneration, shareholder returns and customer bills across the water industry.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have already taken steps to increase transparency of water company finances. Under the Water (Special Measures) Act, water companies are required to ensure the public has access to clear and concise information on their finances. In March 2026, Ofwat published updated financial transparency requirements, which include new reporting requirements for water companies on dividends and the total remuneration received by each director (including any bonuses) in their annual performance reports. Companies already report on infrastructure investment and customer bills in their annual performance reports.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the illegal sale of XL Bully dogs on online marketplaces.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Since 31 December 2023, it has been a criminal offence to breed, sell, rehome or transfer ownership of XL Bully breed type dogs in England and Wales, including through online marketplaces.
To help prevent illegal online sales, Defra endorses the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), which works with major online platforms to identify and remove adverts that breach the law and promotes responsible and lawful pet advertising.