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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of recent trends in littering in public green spaces during the covid-19 outbreak.

Local councils remain responsible for keeping their land clear of litter and refuse according to standards set out in the statutory Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. The Code is available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-on-litter-and-refuse.

We recognise that in the current circumstances, local authorities may have more challenges than usual in collecting all kinds of waste. The Government has announced £3.2 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Defra has also published guidance for local authorities on the prioritisation of waste collection services and released advice over social media on appropriate disposal of personal protective equipment.

Defra does not collect data from local authorities on littering rates in public green spaces or elsewhere, and has made no specific assessment of recent trends in littering in public green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, industry data collected by ADEPT suggests that over 60% of councils are reporting that their street sweeping services are operating normally with 30% reporting minor disruption, and that the amount of litter collected via street sweeping has reduced during the coronavirus outbreak. The data is available at: https://www.adeptnet.org.uk/covid-19-waste-survey-results.

Marine litter is a transboundary issue as it can move with ocean currents, so we cannot yet estimate the effect that COVID-19 will have had on levels in the marine environment.