Local government survey shows 26 council sites already spilling waste on to cliffs and into sea Hundreds of ageing landfill dumps on the coast of England containing plastics, chemicals and other waste are a ticking timebomb threatening to leach pollution on to beaches and into the sea, new research shows. The waste sites date back 100 years in some cases, and little is known about what has been dumped in them. Climate breakdown with associated rising sea levels and flooding are increasing the risk of a cocktail of pollutants entering the sea. More than three-quarters of the landfill dumps identified in a survey by the [...]

The exchequer secretary to the treasury, James Cartlidge MP, defended the government’s enforcement of landfill tax fraud during a debate in parliament yesterday (13 January). Mr Cartlidge highlighted that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) “has learned lessons from previous operational activity and is developing a number of criminal investigations into those involved in waste crime”. He also stated that HMRC has deployed more resources, doubling staff numbers to 50, to increase the number of civil investigations of landfill tax non-compliance. He acknowledged that it is a “relatively difficult tax to enforce”. In response to criticism from MPs, he argued that the tax [...]