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 level of unlicensed dumping of commercial waste in England for each year from 2015 to date; and what steps she is taking to help tackle it.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents, including commercial waste, to Defra, which the department has published annually since 2012.  Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.

The Government has announced plans to move the regulation of waste management and transport from a light-touch registration system into environmental permitting. Reform will mean those transporting or making decisions about waste will have to demonstrate they are competent to make those decisions to obtain a permit, rather than simply just registering, ensuring waste is managed by authorised persons only and in a safe manner. The environmental permitting regime gives the Environment Agency more powers and resources to ensure compliance and hold operators to account.

Mandatory Digital Waste Tracking will help to reduce waste crime, including fly-tipping, and this service will be in place from April 2026.

Defra is also conducting a review of local authority powers to seize vehicles involved in fly-tipping, to identify how we can support them to make better use of this tool.