Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the local council’s powers to deal with litter (a) nationally and (b) in Watford constituency.

In recent years we have 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 have also published guidance on the provision of litter bins and provided nearly £1 million across 44 councils to help them purchase new bins.

We will be undertaking a research project which considers the effectiveness of the different enforcement options available to local authorities, including fixed penalties, and the barriers they face in using these. The results of this research will inform policy development in this area.