Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Litter Action Groups

19 April 2023 · 3 other contributors · 3,754 words

Opened by Virendra Sharma Lab Ealing, Southall

Responding minister: Rebecca Pow

Environment

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Virendra Sharma raised concerns about litter action groups in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Lead MP concerned about public unawareness of costs associated with littering and fly-tipping in his constituency.
  • LAGER Can donated over 16,506 hours to Ealing Council in 2022, saving an estimated 282,000.
  • Bureaucratic barriers hinder volunteer efforts in various parts of the country.

Key requests to Government

The lead MP asks for four actions from the Government: support for volunteer litter-picking groups, a national standard on fly-tipping enforcement, inclusion of glass bottles in deposit return schemes, and an end to plastic in wet wipes with a ban included in upcoming legislation.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Virendra Sharma Lab Ealing, Southall

The lead MP is concerned about the lack of awareness among people regarding the cost of littering and fly-tipping, especially in his constituency. He acknowledges the significant contribution made by volunteer groups like LAGER Can to cleaning up litter and reducing fly-tipping. The group has donated at least 16,506 hours to Ealing Council in 2022 alone, saving an estimated £282,000. However, there are still issues with bureaucratic barriers hindering volunteer efforts in some parts of the country.

Other contributors (3)
  • Gareth Thomas Lab Co-op Harrow West

    Committed to recognising the efforts of Harrow Litter Pickers and suggested a need for local authorities to work with litter-picking groups, proposing a nationally devised standard to quantify these relationships. The hon. Member for Harrow West acknowledged the close collaboration between his constituency's team and LAGER Can, working together to improve conditions. He supports the suggestion of other councils adopting a similar model. I am grateful to the Minister for much of what she has said. Harrow Litter Pickers have found that there are organised fly-tippers causing problems, and litter pickers assist councils in responding to these issues. The Department should support intelligence-gathering efforts on rogue fly-tippers to enhance council enforcement.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Highlighted that youth and community groups in Strangford are actively involved in cleaning their areas. Mentioned that the local council provides tools and assistance, showcasing a successful partnership between volunteers and local authorities.

  • Kim Leadbeater Lab Spen Valley

    Praised my hon. Friend for initiating this debate and thanked Keep Britain Tidy and various groups in her constituency for their efforts during the Great British spring clean campaign, which saw significant litter collection across the country.

Government Response

Rebecca Pow

It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mr Paisley. I congratulate the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) on securing this debate about litter, an issue that is so important to so many of us. It is great to have the opportunity to talk about it and what we are doing about it, and to highlight and commend the many volunteers and groups doing so much commendable work to tackle this criminal activity, and this blight on our communities. The Government provided £9.75 million for a high street community clean-up fund in 2019; funds have gone towards supplying litter-picking kit and training residents in how to remove graffiti. A regulatory position statement was published by the Environment Agency that enables volunteers to litter-pick without a waste carrier licence, allowing local tips to accept litter from pickers. The Government's new antisocial behaviour plan raises penalties for fly-tipping to £1,000 and introduces a league table for local authorities on fly-tipping rates. A further £93 million investment in community payback will see 8 million hours of unpaid work by offenders completing clean-up projects. The Great British spring clean saw 1,500 offenders spend almost 10,000 hours on 300 community clean-up projects. New measures include mandatory waste tracking and extended producer responsibility schemes to reduce packaging waste. A chewing gum taskforce has provided £1.25 million funding for councils to clean pavements, achieving reductions in gum littering of up to 80%. Behaviour change is important; schools are doing great work teaching kids not to throw down litter.

▸ Assessment & feedback
Summary accuracy