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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle rubbish and plastic waste on beaches; and what support her Department is giving to local authorities to enable them to tackle that waste.

The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December 2018, and the Litter Strategy for England (2017) set out our plans to reduce litter and plastic pollution and move towards a more circular economy.

Local councils are responsible for keeping their relevant land (including beaches above mean high water springs) clear of litter and refuse, so far as is practicable. The Litter Innovation Fund, launched in 2017, made nearly £500,000 available to councils and others to pilot and test small-scale innovative approaches to reducing litter.

The majority of ocean plastic pollution originates on land and our efforts have focussed on preventing plastic entering the ocean in the first place. We have already made good progress, removing 15.6 billion plastic bags from circulation with our 5p charge and introducing a world-leading ban on the sale of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products.

The Government consulted on a number of key policy measures set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy: reforming existing packaging waste regulations; exploring the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers; increasing consistency in the recycling system; and introducing a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content. These measures will help to tackle plastic waste, including on beaches and will be brought forward in the forthcoming Environment Bill and future finance bills.

Government recognises the financial pressures on local authorities. They will therefore receive additional resource to meet new net costs arising from the policies set out in this Strategy once implemented.