Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's Roadmap out of lockdown, whether reaching the end of step one of that roadmap on 29 March 2021 means that voluntary litter-picks can take place where social distancing is observed.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government continues to use its influence to support national clear-up days, which help to empower and engage communities in tackling litter and to change attitudes towards littering.
I recently spoke at the launch of Keep Britain Tidy’s 2021 Great British Spring Clean, encouraging as many people and businesses as possible to participate in the Great British Spring Clean, and committed to volunteer during the event. By doing so, we are setting the tone for the summer ahead, by showing that litter is not acceptable, and that people care deeply about protecting their local environment.
We have published specific advice on our gov.uk website which states that voluntary litter picking can be carried out, and that groups must follow government guidance on staying safe outside the home. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste#litter-picking-during-coronavirus
Volunteers are always advised to use safety equipment, including thick gloves, litter-pickers and heavy-duty bags.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote the 2021 Great British Spring Clean campaign.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government continues to use its influence to support national clear-up days, which help to empower and engage communities in tackling litter and to change attitudes towards littering.
I recently spoke at the launch of Keep Britain Tidy’s 2021 Great British Spring Clean, encouraging as many people and businesses as possible to participate in the Great British Spring Clean, and committed to volunteer during the event. By doing so, we are setting the tone for the summer ahead, by showing that litter is not acceptable, and that people care deeply about protecting their local environment.
We have published specific advice on our gov.uk website which states that voluntary litter picking can be carried out, and that groups must follow government guidance on staying safe outside the home. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste#litter-picking-during-coronavirus
Volunteers are always advised to use safety equipment, including thick gloves, litter-pickers and heavy-duty bags.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will use the ANPR camera network to gather evidence for the enforcement of regulations on litter and flytipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Enforcement against littering and fly-tipping on the road network is a matter for the local authority.
The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system is used by the police to check the number plates of passing vehicles against police databases and can identify vehicles which are of interest to the police. Local authorities do not have access to the ANPR camera network.
The ANPR cameras are not suitable for use in gathering evidence of littering or fly-tipping in progress due to the system recording vehicle images and number plates only. In cases of serious waste crime where the police are involved in enforcement, vehicles involved may be considered of interest and would be captured on police databases.
With effect from April 2018, we have introduced new powers enabling councils in England (outside London) to issue civil fixed penalties of between £65 to £150 to the keepers of vehicles from which litter is thrown. Councils in London already had similar powers. This enables them to take enforcement action, even when the precise offender cannot be identified.
Councils can already take action based on camera footage as long as they are satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, litter was thrown from that vehicle. It is for councils to decide whether they have sufficient evidence to take enforcement action in any given case.
Vehicles of those suspected of committing a waste crime, including fly-tipping, can be searched and seized. Guidance available to local authorities recommends that when investigating a fly-tipping incident information such as the description of any vehicles involved should be gathered. This guidance is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fly-tipping-council-responsibilities.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing auditable tracking for products and packaging to assist with the enforcement of rules on litter and flytipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Litter Strategy sets out how we intend to work with the relevant industries to tackle certain types of problematic litter, such as fast food packaging, and our Resources and Waste Strategy set our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime, including fly-tipping.
The Resources and Waste Strategy commits us to introducing mandatory electronic waste tracking, subject to consultation. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and will reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.
No formal assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing auditable tracking for packaging. However, exploratory discussions suggest that the burden on businesses and enforcement bodies, along with data protection issues, would mean the costs could outweigh the benefits of such a policy.
We are exploring other measures to tackle littered packaging. Our recently published consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging proposes that producers who make or handle consumer-facing packaging should fund the full net-costs associated with the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste, including litter-related costs. We have also recently launched our consultation on the deposit return scheme, which will incentivise proper disposal of in-scope material by consumers. We will continue to engage with producers as these measures come forward.
In recent years, to support local authorities in their enforcement, Defra has bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices (including to householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier) and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. We have also introduced new powers to allow penalties to be issued to the keeper of a vehicle from which litter is thrown (recognising that it is often difficult to identify the individual who threw the litter), and published guidance on the use of enforcement powers for littering and related offences.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on communications to discourage litter and flytipping in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has spent the following amounts externally on communications to discourage litter and fly-tipping. The cost of other activities, such as social media messaging, cannot be separated. Likewise, spend on Defra staff cannot be disaggregated.
Year | Purpose | Amount |
2016-2017 | Initial scoping and research for “Keep it, Bin it” national anti-litter campaign | £15,868 |
2017-2018 | Development of “Keep it, Bin it” campaign, partnership strategy and stakeholder research, as well as testing and development of a campaign identity | £124,412 |
2018-2019 | “Keep it, Bin it” campaign branding, creative assets and launch | £67,855 – (following years funded by external partners) |
2019-2020 | Development of Household Waste Duty of Care Toolkit | £6,703 |
2020-2021 | Development and launch of “Respect the Outdoors” campaign, which includes messaging about litter among other issues | £96,650 |
2020-2021 | Contribution to Keep Britain Tidy’s “Love Parks” campaign and use of creative assets | £30,000 |
The Environment Agency has also contributed funds in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to the ‘right waste, right place’ information campaign, managed by the Environmental Services Association, which aims to help small businesses and establishments meet their Duty of Care obligations, and seeks to deter fly-tipping incidents.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's 2018 publication Our Waste, Our Resources: A strategy for England, when he plans to implement the proposals mandating a consistent approach between local authorities in England on kerbside collection of waste for recycling.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We consulted on recycling consistency reforms in 2019 and following support for these measures, the Environment Bill states that waste collection authorities in England must arrange for the collection of a core set of materials (glass; metal; plastic; paper and card; food waste; and garden waste) from households for recycling.
We will be seeking further views in an upcoming second consultation on recycling consistency, which will be published in spring 2021 and will include detail on transition timelines for local authorities. We want to implement recycling consistency as soon as is practically possible, taking into account factors including lead-in times for local authorities to procure vehicles and other capital goods and any existing contractual arrangements.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats entered the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme in each month of 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The number of cats entering Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme in each month of 2020 is as follows:
January | 2844 |
February | 1608 |
March | 1475 |
April | 284 |
May | 407 |
June | 1253 |
July | 2217 |
August | 2772 |
September | 3708 |
October | 3175 |
November | 2369 |
December | 3147 |