Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2021 Commons Chamber

[George Eustice]

The Department for Transport has already announced some plans to increase the speed of driver testing and to deal with some of those logistics issues. Secondly, we are working across Government to ensure that where isolation is needed we protect particularly important strategic infrastructure.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con) [V]]

I am sure the Secretary of State was shocked to see the huge volumes of litter left around Wembley and London’s west end after the Euro final. He referred earlier to extended producer responsibility for packaging. That seeks to put the blame for litter on manufacturers, making them responsible for the cost of the clean-up. Does he agree that this was all caused by illegal actions of the public, and while it is important to consider business responsibility, should the Government not also look to ensure that their citizens behave responsibly?

[George Eustice]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. We all have a role to play in this; people should take responsibility for their litter. We have taken some steps, such as fixed penalty notices so we can issue on-the-spot fines to people who do litter, but we need a culture change in this area.