Illegal Waste: Organised Crime Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Steve Race
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Illegal Waste: Organised Crime
Steve Race Excerpts(1 day, 13 hours ago)
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Emma Hardy
As luck would have it, the Home Affairs team happens to be on the Front Bench just now, and they will have heard the hon. Gentleman’s question.
Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)
Residents in Exeter have raised with me the appalling fly-tipping in the glorious countryside around our city, particularly in Stoke Woods. As we have heard, it is rarely individuals; this is about dodgy cowboy operators who are ruining our countryside. I am pleased that the Government are cracking down on them, but we have to break the business model. How is the Department working cross-Government to tackle the financial incentives of waste crime, which would also support the many legitimate, responsible waste companies that do exist?
Emma Hardy
My hon. Friend is quite right to highlight that there are legitimate companies out there, but there are also waste criminals. That is why the Environment Agency has launched its economic crime unit, which targets the financial motivation behind offending and uses financial mechanisms to inhibit the ability of offenders, including organised crime groups, to operate.