Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they take to ensure that local authorities clear litter on A roads within responsibility of those local authorities, and whether they keep this under review.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Roadside litter is not only unsightly but can be a threat to the environment. Litter-picking also diverts resources away from other essential road maintenance activities. The responsibility for clearing highway litter and sweeping carriageways is governed by the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Each individual highway authority is responsible for clearing litter on the roads for which it is responsible, including local authority A roads.
Funding for local highway authorities to support them in the delivery of their highway maintenance responsibilities is provided by both the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (for revenue-funded operations including litter-picking) and by the Department for Transport (for capital-funded operations such as roads resurfacing). The Government has already announced that the Local Government Finance Settlement for the 2025/26 financial year will grant councils in England access to over £69 billion in funding, a 6.8% cash-terms increase on 2024/25. The Department for Transport has also announced a £500 million funding uplift for local highway authorities for the 2025/26 financial year which will enable them to deliver improvements to the condition of local highways.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, (1) to give National Highways enforcement powers to tackle the dropping or dumping of litter on motorways in England, and (2) to increase penalties for those who commit such offences.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Government has no plans to give National Highways enforcement powers to tackle littering offences on motorways in England. National Highways is not an enforcement organisation as its focus is on safety and maintaining the road network.
In recent years Government has bolstered Local Authority enforcement powers by raising the upper limit on fixed penalty notices for littering and introducing powers to issue the keeper of a vehicle from which litter is thrown with a civil penalty.
We are committed to working with National Highways and across Government to improve enforcement around roadside littering offences.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the state of litter collection on (a) the A13, and (b) the A12, and (2) whether National Highways is meeting its obligations to keep these roads clean.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
National Highways is responsible for keeping the A13 clear of litter and refuse as far as is practicable. Relevant Local Authorities hold this responsibility along the A12. National Highways has committed to report a litter performance indicator during the second Road Investment Strategy 2020-25. Specific regional assessments are the responsibility of National Highways and relevant local duty bodies. In 2021/22 National Highways reported that 60.8% of relevant parts of the Strategic Road Network had no litter, refuse or detritus, or was predominately free of litter, refuse or detritus apart from some small items.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions there have been of individuals dropping or dumping litter on motorways in England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Prosecutions for littering offences on motorways are carried out by appropriate organisations for each case, including Local Authorities, the Police, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency and the Environment Agency. Therefore, Government does not hold a total number for prosecutions. Each individual organisation noted may have relevant numbers regarding the amount of prosecutions for littering offences on motorways in England in each of the past five years.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the overall performance of National Highways.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
National Highways is making progress towards its performance and delivery targets in the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2, 2020-2025).
Since the start of RIS2 National Highways has started work on 11 schemes, four of which were started ahead of the committed date. It has also completed work on 19 schemes that have opened to traffic and continues to deliver on 16 schemes that are currently in construction.
There have however been legal challenges to planning consent for several schemes, concerns around smart motorways and high levels of inflation that have had a significant impact on overall delivery of the portfolio both in terms of cost and schedule.
National Highways and the Department have taken steps to address, learn from and respond to these challenges. Consequently, this has resulted in the need to replan 22 of the 69 major enhancements to ensure the Capital Portfolio remains deliverable and affordable.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the regulations surrounding the riding of e-scooters.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department is currently considering options, including robust technical requirements, for a new regulatory framework for e-scooters. These regulations will ensure that we increase the safety of e-scooters users and manage the impacts of e-scooters in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pedestrians have been killed by dangerous riding by cyclists in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The number of pedestrians killed in reported road collisions with a pedal cycle in each of the last 5 years is shown in the table. The Department’s reported road casualty statistics do not assign fault, so it is not possible to determine in how many of these cases the collision was caused by a cyclist riding dangerously. Conclusions on responsibility in each case are a matter for the courts.
Year | Pedestrian fatalities following collision with pedal cycle |
2016 | 3 |
2017 | 3 |
2018 | 1 |
2019 | 6 |
2020 | 4 |
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to make causing death by dangerous cycling a criminal offence.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department for Transport is working on addressing dangerous cycling and will publish conclusions in due course.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last made an assessment of litter collection by Highways England on (1) the M11 motorway, and (2) the A406 road; and what assessment they have made of Highways England's performance.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Office for Rail and Road monitors Highways England's performance. Their most recent Annual Assessment acknowledged Highways England's actions to address litter on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) and that Highways England is continuing to work towards achieving the vision set out in its litter strategy. Highways England's litter collection on the SRN will be reported on as an annual performance indicator from the end of this financial year.
The A406 is not part of the SRN and responsibility for litter collection lies with the relevant local authority.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the haulage and cabotage rules in the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement do not prevent multi-country touring for musicians and other performers.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and the EU allows UK hauliers to undertake up to 2 additional laden journeys within the EU after a laden international journey from the UK, with a maximum of 1 cabotage movement outside Ireland. These rules will also apply to specialist hauliers, such as hauliers who carry equipment for musicians and other performers.
Our assessment is that the TCA ensures that more than 95% of all haulage journeys will continue as they did before the end of the transition period. However, UK operators undertaking more than 2 additional movements will not be covered by the TCA.
Market access arrangements for hauliers transporting equipment for cultural events was discussed regularly during negotiations between the UK and the EU, and the UK put forward proposals for an exemption for specialist hauliers carrying out tours for cultural events, but the EU did not agree to our asks.
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with the road haulage industry and is working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to support the creative industries sector.