Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of Highway England's performance in fulfilling its legal duty to keep its land clean and free from litter.

Litter collection by Highways England is one of many important road safety duties that they carry out on the motorways and the small number of A-roads they are responsible for.

Highways England’s Litter Strategy sets out how they will work effectively with Local Authorities to remove litter and deliver a cleaner and safer network.

Measures have been put in place to target the 25 worst spots for littering on the network. Since March 2017 Highways England have removed 6,684 sacks of litter from these 25 hotspots. Their work to date has seen a significant reduction in complaints about roadside litter.

However, there is more to do and the Department is working closely with Highways England to remove litter from the roads they manage and support the first ever Government National Litter Strategy for England, which was published in April.