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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's strategy is for litter and fly-tipping.

Defra has announced plans for a new litter strategy and we are working with industry, experts and councils across England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. The litter strategy will promote affordable and replicable ways to influence littering behaviour – and reduce littering. It will encourage innovation in physical infrastructure and cleansing methods, and in product design, and will help to make a compelling and engaging case for investment in work to tackle litter and littering.

To develop the strategy we will seek the views of, among others, representatives from local government, campaign groups and independent experts, as well as voices from the packaging and fast-food industries. As part of this process we will also establish a number of working groups on specific issues, such as roadside litter, data and monitoring and enforcement.

We are committed to tackling fly-tipping as set out in the Government’s manifesto. Subject to Parliamentary approval, we will give local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping. Regulations were laid in Parliament on 11 March. These new enforcement tools will be available to local authorities from 9 May, providing them with an alternative to prosecutions and will assist them to take a proportionate enforcement response. This will build on other actions, including:

• Cracking down on offenders by strengthening the Sentencing Council’s

  Guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July 2014.

• Making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be

  stopped, searched and seized.

• Continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention

  Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting,

  investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.