The EA currently brings prosecutions and in the last year there have been 10 immediate custodial sentences and the shut down of over 1,000 illegal waste sites. Ministers are looking to expand powers for the Environment Agency and its enforcement officers under existing legislation including the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Licence holders can be disqualified from driving if they build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years. The former Conservative government proposed a similar initiative in 2024 and also increased penalties for fly-tipping. The Environmental Services Association estimates, the cost to the economy to tackle the waste was around £1bn a year in England. According to government figures from the year 2024 to 2025, councils in England dealt with 1.