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Motorways and Trunk Roads (Litter)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the second time this afternoon, Mr. Wilshire. I did not realise earlier that this is likely to be one of the last times. I wish you well for the future. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) on securing this debate and providing us with an opportunity to discuss litter on motorways and trunk roads. I recognise that litter on our motorways and trunk roads is of considerable concern to road users, neighbouring communities and businesses, as well as to the officials and contractors who must deal with the problem. Some 700,000 sacks of litter are collected from the motorway network each year. Between 18 February and 11 March this year, 745 sacks of rubbish were collected on the M25 along the northern approach towards the A4127 during 35 visits to the area by the Highways Agency's service provider. On the M11 between junctions 6 and 9, an estimated 80 to 90 sacks of litter are collected each week. In fact, the increased amount of litter being deposited on the M11 has required additional resources to be allocated to the task. Picking up litter along a high-speed carriageway is a dangerous, continual task, and appropriate traffic management may be required to protect those engaged in that crucial work. I do not want to disagree with the hon. Gentleman about the role that community punishments might play in providing additional resources for addressing the problem, but I caution him that there could be safety issues involved in using untrained, inexperienced staff in an environment that can be dangerous. I do not demur from what he said about the value of community punishments. I have seen offenders painting benches in kiddies' play parks in my constituency, and I appreciate the value of such activities and the sense of payback that I hope individuals receive from being asked to take part in them. I am more than happy to take away his suggestion and discuss it further with Highways Agency officials and colleagues in the Ministry of Justice.