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Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Answer

Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the power of (a) local authorities and (b) the police to prosecute people who drop litter in the street; and how many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter in the street under these powers in each of the last three years. [85672] Mr. Meacher: The Advisory Group on Litter undertook a wide-ranging review of the litter legislation, including the powers of local authorities and the police, in 1993. A summary of the Advisory Group's report is available in the House Library. The number of defendants prosecuted for litter offences under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in England and Wales is given in the following table{1}: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1996 1997 {2}1998 Police Prosecution 455 377 377 Other Prosecution{3} 171 128 109 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Data for the Home Office Court Proceedings Database {2} Provisional {3} Includes prosecutions instigated by Government Departments, local authorities (the majority of which fall into this category), private organisations and individuals

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

85672; 332 c378W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Enforcement Local government Litter Prosecutions Pedestrian areas Roads Advisory Group on Litter

Contains statistics

Yes