Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to clear the litter discarded by the side of motorways and major roads in Britain; and what are the blockages preventing this from being dealt with so far.

Safety is paramount when clearing litter from the Strategic Road Network in England and should only be undertaken by professionals after stringent organisational planning. Litter picking usually requires traffic management and overnight working. Relevant organisations across Government work closely together to improve collaboration between organisations responsible for litter clearance, influence littering behaviour, and improve the operational effectiveness of litter clearance. National Highways staff undertake weekly road inspections along the Network to identify litter, detritus and safety hazards. National Highways arrange for appropriate action as soon as possible in line with the Code of practice on litter and refuse, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This is in addition to ad hoc work taken in response to road users’ reports.