Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to protect wild hedgehogs from discarded toxic waste.

It is an offence to dump waste of any kind (often referred to as fly-tipping), and councils have legal powers to take enforcement action against fly-tippers.

In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers, such as by introducing fixed penalty notices.

Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, through which we work with a wide range of interested parties such as the Environment Agency, Countryside Alliance, National Farmers Union and local authorities, to promote and disseminate good practice with regard to preventing fly-tipping. The Environment Agency is responsible for dealing with those incidents of fly-tipping which involve waste that has the potential to damage the environment (such as hazardous waste).

Last year we provided capital funding of £450,000 to enable several councils to implement a range of measures to tackle fly-tipping. We have also consulted on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking and reforming the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working to publish our response shortly.

We believe it is important that local residents are able to dispose of their rubbish in a responsible and convenient manner. Last year we consulted on preventing charges for disposing of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres We are working to publish the Government response in due course.

All of these actions seek to protect our wildlife, including hedgehogs, by ensuring toxic waste does not enter the environment.