The case was heard at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 19 June.

Jake Thomas Mayfield, 25, of Blackthorne Close, New Balderton, was successfully prosecuted by the Environment Agency after he was found to be transporting a scrap vehicle without possessing the requisite waste carrier licence on 11 December 2018.

Mayfield was discovered as part of Operation Transporter, a multi-agency operation targeting road crime which is run in partnership with Nottinghamshire Police, HM Revenue and Customs and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

Mayfield claimed that he was only moving the scrap for a friend, and that he was not operating a waste business. However officers conducted a search of the vehicle Mayfield was using to transport the scrap car and found two invoices from two scrap metal merchants, which suggested that other scrap had been transported and sold on the same day.

On 19 June 2019 Mayfield was found guilty of transporting controlled waste and ordered to pay a fine of £2,640, costs of £1,409.53 and a victim surcharge of £170. A licence would have cost just £154.

During sentencing, the magistrates took into account Mayfield’s previous convictions for fly tipping and concluded that the waste carriers offence had been committed deliberately.

Anyone transporting waste as part of their business, whether it is their waste or someone else’s, has to have a waste carrier licence.

Speaking after the case, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency, said:

The penalty imposed in this case demonstrates how seriously the courts take waste crime. We are pleased with today’s outcome which shows how we will take robust enforcement action to protect communities and the environment against those who deliberately ignore the law. We hope it makes it clear that if anyone transports waste, they must register for a waste carrier licence.

The waste carrier licensing system is intended to ensure that only persons or businesses who properly and lawfully dispose of waste are able to collect and transport waste. Given Mayfield’s previous fly tipping convictions, this case highlights the importance to householders and businesses of only using licensed waste carriers to ensure any waste they hand over to a waste collector will be properly and legally managed.

To report businesses operating without a waste carriers licence or other waste crime call the Environment Agency 24/7 on 0800 80 70 60 or report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You can also check online whether a waste carrier is genuine.

• The management and disposal of waste as a commercial enterprise is subject to a strict statutory regime and the relevant piece of legislation for the purpose of this case is the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989. The act makes it a criminal offence for a person to transport controlled waste to or from any place in the United Kingdom, with a view for profit, if they do not possess the necessary waste carrier licence.

• Operation Transporter is a multi-agency operation focused on targeting criminality on the roads and denying criminals the use of the road network. It involves the Environment Agency, Nottinghamshire Police, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) working in partnership.

• Operation Transporter is on Twitter. For updates follow #OpTransporter.

• Businesses and sole traders/self employed can register as a waste carrier online.

The charges

On 11 December 2018, at Newark Cattle Market, Newark, NG24 1BY Jake Mayfield, being a person who was not a registered carrier of controlled waste, did, in the course of his business or otherwise with a view to profit, transport controlled waste, namely a scrap vehicle, registration FJ08WZA and other vehicles parts contrary to section 1(1) of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989.

The average consumer in Singapore – Scotland’s biggest food and drink export market per capita outside the EU – spent £40 on Scottish food and drink products last year according to new analysis of HMRC data by the Department for International Trade (DIT).

This highlights the growing global demand for Scottish food and drink – not just Scotch Whisky, but everything from jam to Japan and haggis to Hungary.

With a population of 1.9 million, the average consumer in Latvia spent £62 on Scottish food and drink last year, while the average consumer in the United Arab Emirates spent £13.

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP said:

Despite the world economic slowdown, Scottish food and drink businesses are performing exceptionally well in international markets and contributing to Scotland’s impressive export performance.

The UK now has an international economic department – the Department for International Trade – helping our businesses succeed overseas in ways that never happened before.

Scottish businesses are crucial to the UK economy and play a key role in securing our shared prosperity, so I urge more food and drink companies to take advantage of the global demand for their high-quality products.

The news comes as Scotland’s biggest annual agricultural show, the Royal Highland Show, takes place from 20-23 June in Ingliston where the best of Scottish farming, food and rural life will be on display.

DIT’s ‘Exporting is GREAT’ campaign will be part of the wider UK Government marquee at the show to highlight the government support available for new and experienced exporters in Scotland.

Scottish food and drink businesses will also be urged to become Export Advocates to provide advice, encouragement and support to other companies looking to sell their products and services overseas.

The Export Advocate community is a network of UK companies acting as ambassadors for exporting, sharing their success stories, offering practical advice and leading by example. They can be contacted via great.gov.uk and on the Exporting is GREAT Facebook group. Businesses in Scotland can sign up to become Export Advocates here.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said:

The Royal Highland Show is a fantastic event and a great opportunity for Scotland’s food and drink industry to showcase their produce. These figures from the Department for International Trade show how popular Scottish goods are around the world.

As Secretary of State for Scotland I have travelled overseas to bang the drum for Scottish interests – including Singapore – and have seen for myself the level of interest in Scotland’s produce.

The UK Government’s ‘Exporting is GREAT’ campaign provides advice and expertise to support businesses at every step on their exporting journey, from initial interest to selling in market.

I would encourage producers across Scotland to find out more about this and take advantage of the help being offered to break into new markets.

Exports of food and drink from Scotland in 2018 were worth £5.8bn, accounting for 18.4% of total Scottish goods exports in the same year.

There are now more Scottish businesses exporting goods than ever before. In the first quarter of 2019, 4,950 Scottish businesses sold overseas – 229 more than the same period last year.

According to the Food and Drink Federation, the Scottish food and drink industry employs 45,000 people – 25% of the Scottish manufacturing workforce. Recent HMRC statistics also showed that goods exports from Scotland grew faster than any other part of the UK in the last financial year – now worth £32.8 billion.

David Thomson, CEO of Food and Drink Federation Scotland, said:

Scotland’s food and drink manufacturers have a great deal of success exporting their much-loved products around the world. These ambitious businesses are hungry for even more success in new markets in the future.

Notes to editors

The table below lists the top ten export markets per capita for Scottish food and drink in 2018.

• Separate OECD data shows UK exports grew faster than Germany, France and Italy between 2016 and 2018
• Latest statistics from the ONS show UK firms sold more overseas in the 2018/19 financial year, £645.8 billion, than at any time since records began
• The UK has now achieved 37 consecutive months of export growth on an annual rolling basis

An uncle and nephew have been convicted of dumping waste from household refits on derelict land in north London.

Thomas Stokes, 51, and Brian Stokes, 32, discarded several van-loads of construction material between them at Stonehill Business Park in Edmonton in 2017.

The Environment Agency prosecuted the pair after they were caught on CCTV ditching the waste on open land close to the North Circular Road.

Thomas Stokes towed a caravan onto the land on 11 November. Later that month, Stokes, of Oak Lane, Billericay, unloaded waste from his black and white tipper van at the former auction site twice in barely more than an hour. Not a fortnight later, on 5 December, with the van again full of waste, he dumped it like he had done before.

In January 2018, crime officers from the Environment Agency followed Stokes’s van to another address in Edmonton where they identified him on security cameras. The officers later used powers to seize the van at a pub in Welwyn Garden City, and crush it.

Back in December 2017, a week before Christmas, Brian Stokes arrived at the business park to do the same thing as his uncle had – dump waste illegally.

The younger Stokes, of Lyncroft Avenue, Pinner, was driving a different tipper van, but just as uncle Thomas was caught on CCTV, Brian was seen dumping construction waste from the vehicle before driving off.

CCTV proved crucial in bringing the men to court.

The convictions are part of Operation Angola, a joint effort by the Environment Agency and various agencies to target gangs of criminals like the Stokes pair who dump significant amounts of waste across the South East. It is often innocent members of the public targeted, oblivious their waste will be dumped illegally.

Emma Viner, area enforcement manager for the Environment Agency, said:

Thomas and Brian Stokes clearly didn’t care, knowing full well they were taking advantage of unoccupied land on which to dump rubbish.

The waste came from innocent members of the public, unaware the rubbish from home improvements was dumped illegally.

Through the persistent intervention of our officers, the Environment Agency has seen a reduction in the number of offences linked to Operation Angola. Our conviction of Thomas and Brian Stokes shows we pursue law-breakers from the crime to the courtroom.

Sitting at Ealing magistrates’ court on 11 June, deputy district judge Martin Steen sentenced Thomas Stokes to 16 months in prison, suspended for a year. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work and pay £500 in costs and a £85 victim surcharge.

Appearing at the same court, Brian Stokes was told he faced prison if he visited any illegal waste site before 2029, or offered to take away someone’s waste in the same period. Like his uncle, he was ordered to pay costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £85. He is also due to undergo a rehabilitation programme designed to curb his offending.

Last year, magistrates in east London also convicted Brian Stokes of dumping waste. He was given 100 hours unpaid work for that offence, with costs of £1,500 awarded against him after he tipped builders rubbish onto empty land at Romford in 2016.

In this new case, both men pleaded guilty to multiple breaches of environmental law.

This means that HMRC collected 94.4% of all the tax due under the law in 2017 to 2018. Overall, the tax gap has fallen from 7.2% since 2005 to 2006.

The tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid.

Jesse Norman MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:

The UK’s low tax gap underlines both how the vast majority of people are paying the correct amount of tax, and how effective HM Revenue and Customs has been in its efforts to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.

Key findings from the ‘Measuring tax gaps’ report include:

• our latest tax gap estimates show that 94.4% of all tax due was paid in 2017 to 2018
• the duty-only excise tax gap has reduced from 8.4 % in 2005 to 2006, to 5.1% in 2017 to 2018
• the Corporation Tax gap has reduced from 12.5% in 2005 to 2006, to 8.1% in 2017 to 2018

The majority of customers want to get their tax right, but today’s figures show that too many are still finding this hard, with avoidable mistakes costing the Exchequer over £9.9 billion a year. £3 billion of this is attributable to VAT alone, which underlines the importance of the action HMRC has been taking with Making Tax Digital.

HMRC launched Making Tax Digital in April this year for VAT-registered businesses, with turnover above the VAT threshold, requiring them to keep digital records and submit their VAT return using compatible software. So far, over 400,000 businesses have joined the service.

HMRC expects this service to reduce tax lost due to avoidable errors by ensuring businesses make fewer mistakes, thanks to the improved accuracy that digital records provide and the fact that information is sent directly from those records to HMRC, helping to eliminate transposition errors.

At this year’s level of 5.6%, the tax gap remains low. This is a result of HMRC’s sustained efforts to support the overall health of the tax system, and clearly shows our commitment to getting tax right for everyone.

We have also secured and protected more than £200 billion in extra tax since 2010 that would otherwise have gone unpaid as a result of our actions to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance, and non-compliance.

In May, the Office for Statistics Regulation reviewed and commended HMRC’s preparation, production and publication of the ‘Measuring tax gaps’ statistics.

It stated:

HMRC is world-leading in measuring tax gaps and is setting the bar for others to follow.

HMRC is continuing to build a healthy tax system by reshaping our organisation around customer needs rather than the individual taxes they pay, and by pursuing our ambition to become one of the world’s most digitally-advanced tax authorities.

Read the full ‘Measuring tax gaps 2019 edition’ report.

The tax gap has fallen from 7.2% in 2005 to 2006, to 5.6% in 2017 to 2018, with some year-to-year variations.

Since 2010, the government has invested over £2 billion in HMRC to tackle evasion, avoidance and non-compliance and announced over 100 measures to tackle non-compliance in the tax system and aggressive tax planning.

The tax gap methodology has also been intensively reviewed and given a clean bill of health by the International Monetary Fund and scrutinised by the National Audit Office. We are the only revenue authority in the world that measures and publishes the tax gap every year – 2019 marks the tenth year we have published our ‘Measuring tax gaps’ report.

The aircraft collided with a dead tree during a field landing exercise, fatally injuring both the instructor and the pilot.

It has not been possible to determine conclusively whether the aircraft was suffering from an engine problem during the descent. However, the investigation determined that the engine was under power at the point it collided with the tree. Had it been necessary to land in the field beyond, it should have been possible to avoid the tree. It is considered most likely that the pilots did not see the tree until it was too late to avoid it.

Following this and previous field landing accidents, the British Gliding Association highlighted the main hazards and precautions required in conducting field landing training.

Read the report.