An Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) report has identified significant weaknesses in the effectiveness, consistency and oversight of the inspection regime for waste operations and installations in England.
The report is based on a detailed review of Environment Agency (EA) inspection reports of sites from 2018 to 2022, the most recent reports available for review.
Julie Hill, interim Chair of the OEP, said: “Strong, outcomes focused environmental regulation is essential if we are to protect nature and support sustainable economic growth.
“We have looked closely at the inspections regime in place as part of the regulation of waste sites and installations in England and have identified some significant short-comings.
“We concluded that while the system was designed in good faith it is no longer working effectively, and is not sufficiently focused on intended environmental outcomes.
“Better data, stronger oversight, and clearer alignment with those outcomes are needed to ensure that these inspections can play their proper part in making sure required standards are met and the environment sufficiently protected.”
The OEP report found that many inspections carried out during the period reviewed were of poor quality, and in around one third of cases policy guidance was not followed, pointing to systemic issues with the planning and oversight of inspections.
“The Environment Agency has a critical and challenging role and we recognise that work is already underway to address issues raised in this report,” added the OEP Interim Chair.
“This report is intended to support that progress by providing an independent assessment of where changes would have the greatest impact.”
One key finding in the report relates to the EA’s Key Performance Indicator (KPI). The performance of facilities is rated by the EA on a scale of ‘A’ to ‘F’ and the KPI requirement is that 97% of sites should be compliant with their permit (being in Bands ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’). This target has always been met by the EA. However, this figure automatically includes sites that have not been inspected in the reporting period as being in the highest Band (‘A’), as well as sites that have been classed as being in Band ‘C’, even though some issues of non-compliance may have been recorded. We feel that given its current compliance recording practices, the EA can only be confident that around 64% of its sites are compliant.
The OEP makes a number of recommendations, including:
- Better performance indicators that genuinely reflect compliance, replacing flawed metrics, and presenting data more transparently.
- A fundamental redesign of the compliance system so it aligns legal duties, policy, planning and on the ground inspection work.
- Clear published standards for inspections to ensure consistency, purpose and value across all regions and sectors.
- More outcome focused inspections, with clearer actions, consistent root cause analysis, and stronger training and oversight of inspectors.
- Rebuilt quality assurance processes to ensure guidance is followed and improvements are sustained.
- Greater transparency and accessibility of compliance data, including a single published monitoring policy and more timely, user-friendly reporting
The EA has already taken steps to improve its inspections regime for waste sites, including:
- Strengthening assurance processes of inspections (from September 2025). It has carried out sector-by-sector reviews of Compliance Assessment Reports, provided assurance focused training to inspectors and line mangers, and introduced feedback mechanisms to support continuous improvement.
- Starting to publish new inspection reports online from September 2025.
- Issuing a revised version of the Site Prioritisation Matrix, used for planning inspections.
- Introducing a new Regulatory Compliance Service which will allow for actions on non-compliance(s) to be recorded, and then tracked and managed.
- Updating guidance which explains the importance of actions that address both immediate environmental risks and long-term compliance.
- Providing inspectors with refresher training on compliance.
The report, ‘A review of Environment Agency Inspections in the waste operations and installations sector in England’, has been laid before Parliament pursuant to section 29(5) of the Environment Act 2021. Government must formally respond to the report within three months.
The report can be read here: A review of Environment Agency inspections in the waste operations and installations sector in England | Office for Environmental Protection
