Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated to the collection and clearance of roadside litter in their Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2): 2020 to 2025 policy paper.

On the areas of the Strategic Road Network where Highways England bears direct responsibility for litter clearance, Highways England’s agreements with its maintenance contractors requires them to carry out litter picking as a core contractual requirement. As a result, it is not possible to specify how much funding provided for road maintenance is allocated specifically to litter clearance. RIS2 introduces a performance indicator measuring the percentage of the SRN where litter is graded at B or above under the Litter Code of Practice, a widely-used definition of litter condition. Further detail of the metric scope will be laid out in Highways England’s Operational Metrics Manual, which is due to be published later in the Spring.