Appendix
RECOMMENDATION 1
With just one exception, all of the companies
on the Agency's list of top ten highest fines in 2003 were waste
and water companies. (Paragraph
8)
1. This emphasises the need for effective regulation
in this area.
RECOMMENDATION 2
We look forward to seeing the outcome
of the waste sector related enforcement cases currently being
put together by the Environment Agency. We remain concerned, however,
that there appears to be a discrepancy between what organisations
like ESA and SITA are telling us they believe is happening with
waste following the co-disposal ban, and the position described
by DEFRA. (Paragraph
11)
2. We note the Committee's concerns. However it
is clear from data obtained by the Environment Agency and through
their targeted enforcement campaign that there is no missing hazardous
waste. Hazardous waste arisings dropped after the co-disposal
ban because producers are taking greater steps to segregate hazardous
and non-hazardous waste, and the increase in landfill costs has
encouraged greater minimisation at source.
3. Enforcement action by the Agency continues in
the form of extensive compliance inspections/audits along with
waste carrier registration checks. This runs in parallel with
intelligence gathering on brownfield site developments issues
and the continued auditing of hazardous waste landfills.
RECOMMENDATION 3
Irrespective of any mitigating factors
which pertain to some of the pollution incidents resulting from
Thames Water's activities, and regardless of the apparent legality
of the discharges into the Thames, we are compelled to express
our abhorrence of this legitimised pollution and the depressing
attitude with which it is accepted. (Paragraph
15)
4. The Government, the Environment Agency,
and the Office of Water Services recognise that this situation
is not acceptable. The Thames Tideway Strategic Study that has
been underway since 2000, and which will publish its supplementary
report in Spring 2005 has demonstrated this. The objectives of
the study are to assess the environmental impact of intermittent
discharges of storm sewage on the Thames Tideway and to propose
potential solutions, having regard to costs and benefits.
RECOMMENDATION 4
Many of the sewerage systems around
the UK are old and dilapidated and would be enormously expensive
to upgrade. If the water company also has what is tantamount to
a 'get-out' clause because the system is operating as it was designed
to do, even when this means sewage entering water-courses, what
results is an environmental threat sufficiently intractable that
no-one will tackle it head on. This is clearly unsatisfactory.
(Paragraph 16)
5. The Government acknowledges the strong concern
expressed by the Committee. Although much of the sewerage system
is old, it has not reached the end of its useful life. Ofwat monitors
the performance of each water company and its sewer network, requiring
each company to maintain or improve performance.
6. The Government stressed the high priority it placed
on reducing the distress and disruption caused by problems with
the capacity and general condition of existing sewerage in its
guidance to the Regulator during the last periodic review of water
prices. The Government welcomes the attention to sewerage issues
paid by water companies and Ofwat during the review.
RECOMMENDATION 5
We welcome the news that Thames Water, working
with Ofwat, have developed a business plan to upgrade not just
the sewage works at Mogden but also the other three major works
identified as significant contributors to the problem of sewage
overflow into the River Thames.
(Paragraph 18)
7. We consider that the substantial capacity and
treatment improvements at the sewage treatment works in London,
which were identified during initial investigations of the Thames
Tideway Strategic Study, will result in significant environmental
benefits. The increases in sewage works capacity will result
in a reduction in the frequency and impact of intermittent discharges
of storm sewage from the three largest works (Mogden, Beckton
and Crossness) which present intermittent discharge problems.
RECOMMENDATION 6
There is no doubt that agreeing and
then implementing a long-term solution to the overflow and pollution
problems afflicting the River Thames is going to involve making
some tough decisions and significant investment. What is also
clear is that, whether the decision is for a tunnel under London,
or something else, the status quo cannot be allowed to remain.
The likely timeframe for action set out by Thames, which appeared
to be confirmed by Elliot Morley during the debate on the 18th
January, means that a decision with regard to the proposed plans
for a tunnel under London to alleviate the threat of continued
and increasing sewage and waste overflows into the Thames must
be made as a matter of some urgency and we would expect the Government
to be able to let us know the outcome of their deliberations by
the time it responds to this report. (Paragraph
21)
8. Government and the Office of Water Services are
awaiting a supplementary report from the Thames Tideway Strategic
Study Group. The report will set out further investigations looking
at aspects of the proposed tunnel scheme and smaller-scale measures
that could provide alleviation of some of the problems much sooner
than the proposed tunnel solution. We expect this report to be
submitted later in the spring.
RECOMMENDATION 7
A significant and unacceptable number
of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are responsible for an unacceptable
level of environmental crime. It is incumbent upon all businesses,
whatever their size, to ensure that they operate within legal
parameters. (Paragraph
25)
9. We appreciate the Committee's concerns. Businesses
are expected to, and most try to, work within the law, and the
vast majority achieve this. Helping businesses comply replies
to a large extent on effectively providing information and advice.
10. As one of the regulators, the Environment Agency
can advise SMEs on what the legal parameters are. However, with
3.9 million SMEs in the UK no one channel will reach more than
a proportion of them.
11. The Environment Agency (both independently and
with other players such as Envirowise and WRAP) is undertaking
further planned programmes of work to address the apparently poor
level of awareness of environmental legislation amongst SMEs.
Together with its Scottish and Northern Irish counterparts, the
Agency is also investing in the NetRegs website, which explains
to SMEs the legislation applying to them, and how they should
comply. The website provides the most authoritative guidance
on legislation in plain language for SMEs and most SME advisory
bodies.
RECOMMENDATION 8
In this respect, the idea that the
Ministry of Sound, and companies like it, are somehow compelled
to fly-post in order to reach its customer base is nonsense.
(Paragraph 28)
12. We wholeheartedly agree that there is no need
for companies to fly-post in order to reach their customer base.
Most fly-posting is highly organised and commercially driven by
companies that have sufficiently large advertising budgets at
their disposal to be able to look at alternative, legal methods
of reaching their target audience. We understand that the Ministry
of Sound is already exploring some of these technologies.
13. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
contains measures to help clamp-down on the fly-posting counter-culture.
It will deliver a better legislative framework, helping local
authorities and other enforcement partners to help reduce the
incidence of fly-posting. We aim to ensure that advertising companies
will have no option but to consider alternative methods of reaching
their customer base. This will create a level playing field for
reputable advertisers.
14. If the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
successfully completes its passage through Parliament, the new
measures on fly-posting will be brought into force by April 2006.
RECOMMENDATION 9
We are pleased to see the stronger
tools proposed to be given to local authorities in the Clean Neighbourhoods
and Environment Bill, especially those which allow local authorities
to recover the costs of removing fly-posting (and graffiti—increasingly
being used for commercial advertising) and which extend the graffiti
removal scheme currently in place to fly-posting.
(Paragraph 28)
15. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
will equip local authorities with the tools to be able to address
graffiti and fly-posting in their area more effectively. Local
Authorities will be able to send out a clear message that defacement
by graffiti and fly-posting is unacceptable.
16. For example, the Bill will extend graffiti removal
notices to include fly-posting. 12 local authority pilots introduced
under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 have shown that the effect
of this new legislation is to encourage greater partnership between
all who are working to tackle graffiti.
17. Existing legislation on fly-posting in the Town
and Country Planning Act 1990 will be strengthened to make it
harder for the beneficiaries of fly-posting to evade prosecution,
and Local authorities will also be given the power to recover
the costs of removing illegal posters.
18. If the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
successfully completes its passage through Parliament, the new
measures on fly-posting will be brought into force by April 2006.
RECOMMENDATION 10
Given that, according to Environment
Agency figures, the number of substantiated environmental incidents
is holding steady at around 29,000 a year, and that the vast majority
of these incidents related to unregulated, un-permitted sites,
it seems incredible that DEFRA would cut so dramatically the Grant
in Aid funding to the Environment Agency. This decision must be
reviewed Quickly if the Agency is to continue to deal effectively
with this important area of its work.
(Paragraph 33)
19. Grant-in-Aid funding to the Environment Agency
has not been cut. Defra's Resource Allocation Exercise following
SR04 consolidates £6m of additional funding originally allocated
for 2003/04 only and provides for a further £5m for 2005/06,
£10m for 2006/07 and £15m for 2007/08. This is a positive
result for the Agency, which will allow it to continue meeting
its objectives as set out in its Corporate Strategy and Plan.
Furthermore, as part of the Business Resource Efficiency and
Waste programme (BREW), Government has awarded the Agency £2m
in 2005/6 to enhance its efforts in tackling illegal dumping,
and provide more support to business to achieve lawful and sustainable
waste management.
20. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
will improve the Agency's ability to deal effectively with unregulated,
un-permitted environmental incidents, such as fly-tipping. Tackling
fly tipping is not all about giving the Agency extra resources.
It is also about encouraging more effective working in partnership
with local authorities and other organisations, and using the
suite of powers available to the Agency and local authorities
in a more effective and imaginative way.
RECOMMENDATION 11
We commend the Environment Agency and
the local authorities for continuing to work together and for
developing a partnership which, if successful, may go some way
to effectively handling incidents of illegal waste disposal and
fly-tipping and look forward to seeing a review of the initiative
in due course. (Paragraph
34)
21. The Government is committed to assisting local
authorities and the Environment Agency in tackling illegal waste
disposal or 'fly-tipping'. Defra consulted on the Fly-Tipping
Strategy in 2004, which included a range of measures that aim
to deal with the problem.
22. The Environment Agency and the Local Government
Association have drawn up the voluntary fly-tipping protocol,
and this has recently been reviewed and updated. The new protocol
is currently in the process of being implemented and will clarify
the division of responsibility between the Agency and Local Authorities
as regards the disposal of fly-tipped waste..
23. Fly tipping measures were also included in the
Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. They allowed the Government to
develop statutory directions to clarify the roles of the Environment
Agency and waste collection authorities in dealing with the illegal
dumping of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. This will build
upon the voluntary agreement that was reached with the fly tipping
protocol.
RECOMMENDATION 12
We commend Anglian Water, Wessex Water
and Dwr Cymru for reducing pollution incidents in 2003 and look
for a similar commitment and achievement from all other water
companies. (Paragraph
36)
24. We welcome the progress that has been achieved.
This should be an extra spur to all water companies. Maintaining
and improving water quality in rivers, coastal and ground waters
in England and Wales is a continuing priority for the Government.
25. The Environment Agency is taking action to prevent
pollution incidents from occurring in the first place through
regulation, and also through education, publicity and guidance.
RECOMMENDATION 13
Time and again over the course of our inquiries
into environmental crime, it has been brought home to us that
unless there is a real threat of being detected, the offender
will continue to offend. We cannot stress strongly enough the
importance of the threat of detection as a deterrent.
(Paragraph 38)
26. We agree that a real threat of detection is a
key incentive to compliance, alongside other factors such as information
and advice to assist compliance and awareness raising initiatives.
27. For those that the Agency regulates directly,
more effort is being targeted at activities that represent a higher
risk, or are poorly managed by the operator. Reduced inspection
frequencies for good performers and a linkage between the risk
rating and regulatory charges provide some incentive for compliance.
28. For those directly regulated by the Agency there
is a good chance of detection. However, following detection the
available penalty regimes may not be flexible or effective enough
to help incentivise compliance. For this reason Defra will continue
to work with the Agency to explore the possible use of more tailored
and flexible enforcement tools.
29. For those activities that the Agency regulates
indirectly there is a significantly reduced likelihood of detection.
These activities tend to be lower risk operations, and are predominantly
SMEs. However, the collective impact of SMEs means that it remains
important to influence them.
30. To address this issue, and in line with the recommendations
from the Hampton Review, the Agency is developing an SME strategy
to raise awareness, and deliver compliance assistance to SMEs.
This will build on other initiatives, for example NetRegs is a
website covering over 100 business sectors, produced in partnership
with SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and the NIEHS
(National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). NetRegs
helps small businesses to understand their obligations and how
to comply with them, thus helping to reduce the regulatory burden.
31. The detection of environmental crime is also
assisted by close working arrangements between different regulatory
organisations. For example, an Agency-Local Government Association
protocol sets out the respective roles and responsibilities of
the Environment Agency and local authorities in dealing with fly-tipping
offences. The Agency focuses its limited resources on waste-crimes
that are large-scale, or involve organised criminals or involve
certain hazardous wastes. The Agency has already formed regional
Special Enforcement Teams to deal with this type of criminality.
32. The Agency, with additional funding from Defra,
is actively developing a package of training tools to assist local
authority enforcement and legal officers to enhance their current
enforcement capability. This will enable the Agency to concentrate
its efforts on the more serious and complex cases. Closer links
are also being forged in particular with the Police, Revenue and
Customs & Excise so that intelligence and information can
be shared which will help in the detection of those determined
to offend.
33. Defra along with the Welsh Assembly Government
and other Government Departments will work with the Agency to
explore opportunities to increase funding to improve detection
and compliance for those that the Agency does not regulate directly,
or who choose to operate outside of the law.
RECOMMENDATION 14
The fact that there is a perceived
inconsistency of approach employed by the Environment Agency in
prosecuting environmental crime around the country is unhelpful
and worrying and must be addressed by the Environment Agency as
a matter of urgency. (Paragraph
39)
34. The Environment Agency has already taken a number
of steps to ensure consistency, and where there is evidence of
problems the Agency is working to address these.
35. The Agency's Enforcement & Prosecution
Policy and Guidelines (available from www.environment-agency.gov.uk)
are designed to ensure consistent and proportionate enforcement
responses in particular cases. The Policy was subject to extensive
public consultation.
36. The Agency also has procedures in place to encourage
consistency. For example, the Agency grades offences or a breach
of permit condition in accordance with the severity of their environmental
impact, which help to direct the appropriate enforcement response.
Additionally the Agency is developing the concept of "Prosecution
Panels" to scrutinise investigations and advise on the appropriate
enforcement response.
37. Consistency
means following an agreed and transparent set of principles in
the decision making process. However, the complex variation in
cases means that an overall impression of uniformity will never
be achievable, or desirable.
RECOMMENDATION 15
We do not agree with the argument that
certain sectors are in some way being singled out for harsher
treatment than others simply because it is easier to do so; if
an environmental regulation is being infringed then the Agency
has every right and indeed a duty to act against the offender.
Where we do have some concern is with regard to the fact that
the majority of incidents are, by the Agency's own reckoning,
committed by those in the unregulated sector. This is not adequately
policed and this imbalance must be addressed by the Agency and
DEFRA. (Paragraph 40)
38. It is rightly the responsibility of regulated
business to manage their activities so as to comply with the law,
and minimise the risk to the environment and human health. The
Agency will always respond firmly to serious incidents along with
those occurrences with potentially serious environmental consequences,
in accordance with the Agency's Enforcement and Prosecution Policy.
39. As indicated in our response to Recommendation
13, the Agency is taking steps to target more resources at offenders
who fall outside the regulated sector. For example, the Agency
has established Special Enforcement Teams to deal with offending
that not only crosses Agency regional boundaries but also has
an international aspect. As mentioned, closer liaison is being
developed with other enforcing bodies to exchange information
and plans. The fly-tipping protocol with the Local Government
Association is an example of practical steps that can be taken
to ensure effective and efficient use of Agency and other enforcement
agencies' limited resources.
RECOMMENDATION 16
For those companies and organisations
who are not dissuaded from their illegal activity by the threat
of detection, prosecution and sentencing, whether that be a financial
penalty or, in a very few and extreme cases, a custodial sentence,
other means have to be found to ensure their compliance with environmental
laws and regulations. (Paragraph 45)
40. The Agency is modernising the way that it regulates
business—including reducing the oversight (and associated
charges) of responsible businesses that demonstrate effective
management of their environmental obligations. This rewarding
of good performers provides a positive incentive for compliance.
41. However, effective sanctions are needed where
particular operators choose not to comply, or choose to operate
outside of the law. To ensure that these sanctions represent
a real and effective deterrent Defra and the Environment Agency
are continuing to work together to examine the possible use of
more tailored and flexible sanctions for use by both the courts
and the Agency itself.
42. We welcome the Hampton Review's recommendation
that the Sentencing Guidelines Council should consider new guidance
on fine levels, taking full account of economic benefit gained
from illegal activity.
RECOMMENDATION 17
We are reassured to see that DEFRA
clearly recognises that the status quo with regard to how environmental
crime is dealt with cannot be allowed to continue.
(Paragraph 47)
43. The Government believes more needs to be done
to make enforcement more efficient and effective. Defra is continuing
to explore with the Environment Agency and other stakeholders
a more holistic approach to the enforcement of measures for environmental
protection, which will both be fairer to those who transgress
and more effective in protecting the environment by giving courts
a wider range of options for penalties which they are more likely
to be willing to use.
44. It will be important to consider how a focus
on remediation of the damage done to the environment, rather than
punishing the offender could contribute to a more effective approach.
RECOMMENDATION 18
The creation of a robust civil penalty regime
as an alternative means with which to deal with environmental
crime is something we considered in our earlier reports and which,
subject to learning more of the detail of the proposal, we would
support. (Paragraph 48)
45. As mentioned in our response to the Committee's
Recommendation 17, the Government is committed to exploring the
merits of a full range of options aimed at improving enforcement.
Discussion at the 30 November Environmental justice Conference
demonstrated that administrative penalties are certainly one very
interesting approach, and their possible impact will need to be
assessed in the course of further work that is planned. However,
another outcome of the conference was to highlight the need to
establish a firm evidence base on which to assess the various
options under consideration. Again, we welcome the Hampton Review's
recommendation that the possible merits of administrative penalties
should be explored.
RECOMMENDATION 19
Given cuts in Grant in Aid funding
for the Agency in the region of £4 million, and the additional
requirement to make efficiency savings of over £75 million,
any suggestion that it can assume responsibility for a civil penalty
regime without a significant increase in funding will doom this
initiative to failure. (Paragraph
49)
46. As noted in the response to recommendation 10,
grant-in-aid funding to the Environment Agency has not been cut.
The 2004 Spending Review also allocates a further £5m in
2005/06, £10m in 2006/07 and £15m in 2007/08 to the
Agency.
47. The Gershon Review has set ambitious, but achievable,
efficiency targets for the whole of Government. The Environment
Agency has a target of £73 million that will be retained
by the Agency to fund new and existing high priority projects.
Driving through efficiency savings will support, rather than threaten,
important new work.
48. Should the agency be expected to assume responsibility
for a new kind of regime then Government would ensure that the
Agency has the funding necessary to finance its implementation.
RECOMMENDATION 20
Whilst no one would wish to see a business
fail, if the civil penalty is effectively without teeth then it
is likely to fall at the first hurdle. It is important that the
Agency is prepared to use a sufficient level of fine to ensure
that the penalty regime works effectively both as a means of prevention
as well as a cure. (Paragraph 50)
49. The committee has raised an important issue that
will need to be considered in assessing the suitability of administrative
penalties as an appropriate enforcement tool.
RECOMMENDATION 21
We support the Agency in its intention
to make greater use of the lifestyle provisions of the Proceeds
of Crime Act 2002. We cannot consider that the survival of a business
which is a serial offender in environmental terms and shows no
signs of wanting to improve its lamentable environmental performance
should rank higher in terms of importance than the protection
of the environment which that business desecrates.
(Paragraph 51)
50. The Proceeds of Crime Act provisions are now
available to the Agency and others, and when applied will send
an important message to serious environmental offenders. The
Hampton Review recommends that criminal offenders should be specifically
targeted, and the government recognise that in many cases the
Agency has to deal with elements of explicit criminality. In
these instances it is quite right that the full force of the law
be used. The confiscation of the benefits of criminality would
send a powerful message to those involved in environmental crime
that they will not be allowed to benefit from evading the law.
RECOMMENDATION 22
We would urge DEFRA and the Environment
Agency to consider how best to harness this tactic of "naming
and shaming" corporate environmental offenders in the interests
of environmental protection. (Paragraph
53)
51. The high value placed by most businesses on maintaining
their good reputations appears to be an important motivator to
ensure greater compliance with environmental regulations.
52. The ultimate aim of Government is to educate
businesses and individuals into acting in an environmentally responsible
manner, and the naming of poor performers forms one part of this.
In fact, in its annual
report on business' environmental performance, "Spotlight",
the Agency already names
the best and worst performers. In further work to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of enforcement, Defra and the Environment
Agency will explore further options which may build on businesses'
concern to maintain their good reputations.
RECOMMENDATION 23
We do not think it is unreasonable to expect businesses
which are subject to environmental laws and regulations to complete
an annual check-up of how they are performing against requirements;
we see this simply as a natural progression which follows, if
not accompanies, the introduction of a civil penalty regime. We
would urge DEFRA to consider mandating such an assessment. (Paragraph
54)
53. Company directors should already be identifying
and managing business risks, which should include the risks of
non-compliance with environmental law and possible damage to the
environment.
54. Before Government could decide whether an annual
check-up of how businesses are performing against requirements
would be a desirable requirement, careful consideration would
have to be given, supported by a Regulatory Impact Assessment,
to ensure SMEs are not disproportionately affected. There are,
however, no plans to pursue this idea in detail at present.
RECOMMENDATION 24
Prevention is always going to be better
than cure and a robust programme of education and publicity led
by the Government is crucial to this being achieved. What we have
seen in this inquiry has echoed our earlier findings in that successful
communication of policy, new legislation and regulation is patchy.
(Paragraph 55)
The response to recommendations 24 and 25 are combined
below.
RECOMMENDATION 25
It cannot be acceptable for businesses
to be left waiting an improbably long time for guidance on what
for many were fundamental changes to their practices and procedures
which could not be put into place in the time left to them. The
debacle surrounding the implementation and publication of the
ban on co-disposal of hazardous waste demonstrates all too clearly
the failure of the Government adequately to engage with industry
in a timely fashion. This must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
(Paragraph 59)
55. Education is at the forefront of Government policy
in ensuring compliance with environmental legislation. We agree
that it is important to provide industry with guidance on complex
issues such as waste and that this should be done as early as
possible to enable industry to plan and investment appropriately.
56. The Government took and continues to take exceptional
steps to communicate and publicise the requirements of the landfill
directive to business and industry, including six consultations
on the Directive's provisions. Early on, the Government established
a dedicated project managed programme to implement the requirements
of the Landfill and Hazardous Waste Directives. Moreover, the
Environment Agency has produced guidance notes on all aspects
of landfill and hazardous waste and a dedicated one stop shop
website for advice to business on hazardous waste issues has been
set up.
RECOMMENDATION 26
It is clear to us that until we have
successfully embedded learning about the environment, and the
impact of our actions on it, into our formal and informal education
systems, we will continue to see both the business and the individual
commit environmental crimes. (Paragraph
60)
57. The Government recognises that in order to change
people's behaviour, education and awareness raising is vital.
However, this is only part of the solution and must be part of
a holistic approach, combining community engagement and enforcement.
58. The environment already features in both formal
and informal education systems throughout England and Wales in
a variety of ways. Sustainable Development (including waste) forms
an integral part of the national Curriculum and Defra also funds
Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS) each year to carry out a number
of projects and awareness raising campaigns aimed at instilling
key behavioural change. This includes the Eco Schools project
that encompasses nearly 4000 schools.
RECOMMENDATION 27
Without doubt, one of the greatest
challenges facing the Government is to make businesses fully understand
that they are as duty bound to comply with environmental regulations
as they are, for example, with Health and Safety regulations.
(Paragraph 62)
59. Government wishes to ensure that industry is
fully conversant with the need to comply with environmental regulations.
This requires a combination of advice and information and a penalty
regime that effectively punishes those who transgress. Initiatives
such as NetRegs demonstrate the work being done to improve the
information available to businesses as to their environmental
responsibilities. At the same time work continues to explore how
the penalty regime might be made smarter and more flexible.
RECOMMENDATION 28
Whilst we accept that it is early days
yet with respect to the development and introduction of a civil
penalty regime, we assume that an effective method of communicating
with all businesses to whom the penalty might be applied must
be a fundamental pillar of the structure of the regime. Failure
to include an effective communication strategy into the system
at the outset may lead to unforeseen rights of appeal being granted
to those companies who might seek to demonstrate ignorance.
(Paragraph 63)
60. Should a regime of administrative penalties come
into force the Government would, as a matter of course, ensure
that businesses affected would be fully informed about the implications
of the scheme, and to their responsibilities under it.
RECOMMENDATION 29
We cannot condone fly-posting under
any circumstances, but we accept that some businesses do fall
outside of the more traditional and accepted parameters for advertising.
The Ministry of Sound did express some interest in some of the
initiatives we saw when we visited Leeds during our inquiry into
Fly-tipping, Fly-posting, Litter, Graffiti and Noise; we would
encourage them to work with others in their industry, and the
local authorities, to find alternative and authorised sites for
poster-based advertising. (Paragraph 65)
61. We strongly encourage businesses to work with
local authorities to look at alternative, legal ways of promoting
their events, music releases and other materials. Local authorities,
the police, businesses, community groups and others will be encouraged
to work together to develop solutions that are appropriate for
their locality using the tools and powers that are available to
them both through existing and new legislation.
62. The roll-out and implementation of the Clean
Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill will include guidance and
seminars to foster partnership working. Last September Defra established
a new Fly-posting Action Group bringing Government Departments
responsible for fly-posting together with leading local authorities
in the field, to discuss the Clean Neighbourhoods proposals, share
good practice and look at other ways of dealing with fly-posting.
RECOMMENDATION 30
The Ministry of Sound has told us that
it is already exploring the concept of text messaging as a method
of publicising its club nights and we would encourage it and like
businesses to pursue this and other innovative methods as viable
alternatives to fly-posting. (Paragraph
66)
63. We agree that it is essential that businesses
take responsibility for preventing degradation of the local environment,
and developing advertising methods that do not blight the area.
It is unacceptable that clean-up costs should fall on the taxpayer.
Companies who benefit from advertising must accept the cost of
conducting their business in a responsible way. The use of text
messaging is one such approach and we welcome the Ministry's work
in exploring this concept.
RECOMMENDATION 31
Without doubt, the one issue that links
all four of our inquiries on environmental crime is that it is
by and large not an issue which comes high enough on anyone's
agenda to rate any real attention or make any significant impact
on behaviour. (Paragraph 67)
64. The Government is committed to tackling environmental
crime and anti-social behaviour such as fly-tipping. This has
been backed up by recent joint-working initiatives, such as the
Flycapture database.
65. This commitment is further demonstrated by the
work going on as part of the cross-departmental Cleaner, Safer,
Greener agenda to create sustainable communities through tackling
poor environmental quality and environmental crime. This is borne
out through recent initiatives such as the Anti Social Behaviour
Act 2003, the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill, the Nuisance
Vehicle Strategy and the extended Best Value Performance Indicator
199 to cover wider aspects of environmental crime.
66. As a result of projects such as these the Government
is exerting real pressure on individuals and businesses to practice
more sustainable behaviours.
RECOMMENDATION 32
It is incumbent on every business to
ensure that, as a matter of course, and not as an additional extra
if there is the time and money, it and its employees not only
know what its environmental obligations are but also comply with
them. (Paragraph 69)
67. Businesses listed on the Stock Exchange already
have to report on CSR in their annual reports. The presumption
is that these companies will already have gone some way to ensure
it and its employees not only know what its environmental obligations
are, but also comply with them.
68. However, Government can help to make businesses
aware of this duty, and can advise them on both what their obligations
are, and how they can comply with them. As mentioned before,
in addition to its continuous efforts to engage with businesses,
the Environment Agency has set up the NetRegs project to advise
businesses of their environmental obligations, and how - in clear,
plain language—they can comply with both mandatory and good
practice requirements. Furthermore, the Government is committed
to developing a sustainable business plan with the 3 UK environmental
regulators to develop the site further and faster. This should
go a long way to ensuring that all businesses are made aware of
their environmental obligations.
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