Relevant convictions for environmental permits

When you must declare

You must tell the Environment Agency about relevant convictions when you:

• apply for a new permit
• apply to have a permit transferred to yourself

You must do this for permits for any of these activities:

• installations
• medium combustion plant
• mining waste operations or facilities
• specified generators
• waste operations

Who you must give information about

You must tell the Environment Agency if you, or anyone connected to the proposed permit holder, has been convicted of one of the offences listed in this guidance.

For companies and other corporate bodies, you must tell the Environment Agency about:  

• the company
• directors, managers, company secretaries or similar officers
• other companies, if a director or company secretary of your company were officers of that company when they were convicted

For individuals, you must tell the Environment Agency about:

• the individual
• companies for which the individual is a director, manager, secretary or similar officer

For partnerships, you must tell the Environment Agency about:

• any of the partners
• partner convictions related to another business as well as the partnership

Convictions you must declare

If a conviction is spent, you do not have to tell the Environment Agency about it. See the section on ‘What counts as a spent conviction’.

You must tell us about unspent convictions for the following offences:

• affray
• arson
• bribery
• common assault or battery
• false imprisonment
• kidnapping
• manslaughter
• murder
• perverting the course of justice

You must tell us about unspent convictions under the:the following legislation:

• Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013
• Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Wales) Regulations 2014
• Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
• Bribery Act 2010
• Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 and 2015
• Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989: Section 1, 5 or 7
• Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
• Criminal Finances Act 2017
• Criminal Damage Act 1971
• Customs and Excise Management Act 1979: Section 170 and 170B
• Drug Trafficking Act 1994
• Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
• End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003
• End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005
• Environment Act 1995: Section 110
• Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, 2010 and 2016
• Environmental Protection Act 1990
• Finance Act 1996 (Landfill Tax offences under Schedule 5 Part 4)
• Food and Environment Protection Act 1985: Section 9
• Fraud Act 2006: Section 1
• Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005
• Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
• Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017
• Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012: Section 146
• Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
• Modern Slavery Act 2015
• Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015: Regulation 41 combined with 7 to 8 and 10 to 35
• Offences against the Person Act 1861
• Online Safety Act 2023
• Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Part 7
• Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007
• Psychoactive Substances Act 2016
• Public Order Act 1986
• Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018: Regulation 11 combined with 3 to 10
• Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012
• Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975: Section 2 and 4
• Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 and 2013
• Serious Crime Act 2015
• Sexual Offences Act 2003
• Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989
• Taxes Management Act 1970: Section 106A
• Theft Act 1968: Section 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 22 and 25
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990
• Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994 and 2007
• VAT Act 1994: Section 72
• Vehicles (Crimes) Act 2001: Part 1
• Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011: Regulation 42  
• Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulation 2009
• Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 and 2013
• Water Resources Act 1991: Section 202 and 206
• Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations 2010: Regulation 10 combined with 3 to 5, 7 and 9

You must also declare any unspent convictions under similar Scottish and Northern Irish legislation.

What counts as a spent conviction

Offences committed by corporate bodies do not become spent as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not apply to them.

If you were under 18 when you were convicted, the spent times are different. Contact the Environment Agency for more information.

The Environment Agency may still consider spent relevant offences – but only if they believe it is necessary so that justice can be done.

The relevant offences may change if the law changes. This information is for guidance and is not a complete statement of the law.

For more advice