Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, confirmed she had written to Emma Reynolds on Monday (15 December 2025) to request her appearance before the committee “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
The move follows mounting frustration among peers over the government’s handling of waste crime, amid continuing reports of large-scale illegal dumping across England.
Reynolds called in for overlooking inquiry
In her letter, Baroness Sheehan said the committee was “deeply disappointed” with Reynolds’ written response to its inquiry, arguing that the “depth and breadth” of the committee’s concerns had been overlooked.
Peers said evidence heard during the inquiry demonstrated “multiple failures” in the current approach to tackling waste crime, including a lack of response by the Environment Agency (EA) to reports of illegal activity, poor coordination between public authorities and inadequate resourcing on the ground.
Baroness Sheehan also pointed to the continued emergence of illegal waste sites in locations including Kidlington, Wigan and Wadborough, with further sites reported in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire since the committee first raised its concerns earlier this month.
Given the scale of the problem, the committee said it wanted Reynolds to explain in person what the government planned to do to reduce what Baroness Sheehan described as the “scourge of waste crime”.
House of Lords waste crime inquiry
The Environment and Climate Change Committee launched its inquiry into waste crime earlier this year, publishing its findings on 28 October 2025.
The inquiry concluded that waste crime was “critically under-prioritised despite its significant environmental, economic and social costs”.
Peers called on the government to urgently commission an independent, “root-and-branch” review of the waste crime regime, arguing that the problems identified were systemic rather than isolated.
Reynolds responded to the inquiry on 9 December, confirming she had met with EA Chief Executive Philip Duffy to discuss the recommendations.
However, she said she would “prefer not to divert significant resource” away from existing waste reforms by launching a new review at this time, noting that an independent review had already been carried out in 2018.
Baroness Sheehan said the lack of clear timelines and detail in Reynolds’ response left the committee with little confidence that existing measures were sufficient.
Subscribe for free