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

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to evaluate the impact of additional Environment Agency funding on its ability to undertake effective enforcement action against waste crime.

The Environment Agency (EA) reports its performance every quarter through its published Corporate Scorecard. We are working with the EA to develop improved measures for the scorecard, as well as considering an evaluation approach for the package of measures recently announced in the government’s Waste Crime Action Plan.

The EA is also looking at technology-based opportunities to measure levels of waste crime, such as the potential to use satellite technology and machine learning. This will improve the EA’s insights and business intelligence to inform its strategic approach and prioritisation.