§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the prosecutions carried out in England and Wales by the Environment Agency for waste offences, in each month since 1 April 1996, indicating(a) the person or company prosecuted, (b) the date and outcome of the prosecution, (c) the nature of the offence and (d) the penalty imposed. [15671]
§ Mr. ClappisonData relating to prosecutions by the Environment Agency for waste offences are not yet held centrally, although detailed records are held at a local level.
The agency does, of course, recognise the need to collate and manage its data effectively and has already taken significant steps towards drawing up a coherent national policy on data management, addressing the many disparate data collection and information systems inherited by the agency on 1 April 1996. It is also considering a number of policy options that will enable information relating to all of its enforcement activities to be made fully available. As I said in my answer of 16 October 1996, Official Report, columns 1045–46, when data on waste offences are centrally available I will write to the hon. Member about it.