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 is taking to prevent victims of waste crime having to bear the cost of any required clean-up in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.

Landowners are responsible for preventing and clearing illegally dumped waste on their land. While landowner responsibility protects against perverse incentives, we recognise that innocent landowners can and often do face unaffordable remediation costs. That is why, as part of our Waste Crime Action Plan, we are exploring barriers to a more accessible insurance market, alongside practical guidance and preventative measures to help landowners reduce the risks that they face. Wherever possible, Government seeks to recover costs from perpetrators; we have recouped over £1.5 million since 2024.