Thank you for emailing me about litter.
Litter blights our towns and roadsides and spoils our enjoyment of the countryside. It is also incredibly expensive, costing local councils hundreds of millions of pounds a year to clear up. I would like to reassure you that I am dedicated to tackling littering in our constituency.
I am encouraged by the Government’s Litter Strategy for England which sets out the aim to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering within a generation. The strategy brings together communities, businesses, charities, and schools to bring about real change by focusing on three key themes: education and awareness; improving enforcement; and better cleaning and access to bins.
As you may know, local councils have the power to issue on-the-spot fines of up to £150 for littering. Since publishing the Strategy, Ministers have also given councils new powers to hold the keeper of a vehicle responsible for litter thrown from it by issuing a civil penalty. Further, local authorities, police and private individuals have the power to bring prosecutions for littering, and the maximum fine on conviction may be up to £2,500.
It is welcome that ministers are taking further steps to address packaging litter. This includes plans for an extended producer responsibility for packaging, proposing that producers of commonly littered packaging items be made responsible for the costs that are directly attributable to their management, and for a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Ministers have also consulted on establishing greater consistency in the recycling system.
Finally, in response to coronavirus, Defra developed a 'Respect the Outdoors' campaign to encourage people to follow the Countryside Code and to highlight the impacts of littering. The Government also supported Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks campaign, which encouraged people to treat our parks with respect, and provided funding for the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s £2million grant scheme which allows for local authorities in England to apply for capital grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 to purchase new bins.
Thank you again for contacting me.