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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024, to Question HL2390, on Waste: Codes of Practice, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation on making the Code of Practice a statutory code.

The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse is already a statutory document, and Local Councils must have regard to it when carrying out their duty to keep relevant land clear of litter and refuse.

Separate guidance on enforcement was published in 2019 and attached to the Code of Practice but is not statutory. Under the previous Government a consultation was run on making this enforcement guidance statutory.

At this stage, the Government has not yet made an assessment of how it can further support local authorities to tackle litter. Any decisions or updates will be communicated in due course.