London: Street Cleaning (Hansard, 8 December 1987)

§ Lord Brougham and Vaux
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, the primary responsibility for cleaning London streets in the interests of public health or amenity rests with local authorities, in accordance with Section 22 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974. It is for them to determine the priority to be given to this activity in relation to the resources available.

§ Lord Brougham and Vaux
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that rather disappointing reply. Did he see an article in the Daily Telegraph last Thursday which said that London has become the dirtiest rich city in the world and is a disgrace to its citizens? Is my noble friend also aware that a few weeks ago I was in Paris where the streets are almost spotlessly clean?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, I am well aware of the article in the Daily Telegraph, which has been mentioned by my noble friend. The Government support the Keep Britain Tidy Group in its efforts to help authorities to mobilise local interests by its community environment programme and its educational and promotional activities in order to achieve long-term improvements. The problem is that we see and complain about the effects, but the cause is very much more difficult to deal with because it is very difficult to change habits and bad behaviour by legislation.

§ Baroness Nicol
My Lords, will the Minister agree that this is a nationwide problem and not confined to London? It is aggravated by the fact that plastics are now being used in packaging, which is already very excessive. Do the Government have any long-term plans for the overall management of packaging and indeed of waste disposal generally, which includes the litter being collected? We are now running out of places to put it, so the Government must have some overall plans for this.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, so far as I am aware the plans for the disposal of waste and packaging are essentially the responsibility of the local authorities. I shall write to the noble Baroness about whether the Government have a long-term plan for plastic packaging in particular.

§ Lord Gisborough
My Lords, speaking on behalf of those who contribute to road space and gain exercise by riding bicycles in the city, is my noble friend aware of the large number of potholes that continually 71 break spokes? There is one outside the House which broke a spoke of mine this morning. What chance is there of these being cleared up as well?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, if my noble friend would like to put down a Question on potholes, I should be more than happy to answer it.

§ Baroness Strange
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, instead of being paved with gold, the streets of London are very largely paved with empty crisp packets?

§ Lord Hesketh
Yes, my Lords.

Lord Wallace of Coslany
My Lords, what has happened to Mr. Richard Branson, who was appointed by the Prime Minister to organise this clearing-up? He does not seem to be operating.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, in a way Mr. Branson has been the victim of a false piece of publicity. He was made the chairman of the UK 2000 initiative, which has among its responsibilities the development of programmes to abate litter. He was not made the chairman of an anti-litter group specifically.

§ Baroness Nicol
My Lords, as the Government say that local authorities are responsible, can the Minister tell us whether or not, as part of this campaign, Mr. Branson liaised with local authorities?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, UK 2000 occasionally becomes involved in the litter question and so presumably liaises occasionally with local authorities. That does not necessarily mean to say that that has any bearing on the Question.

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the chasing of every penny for efficiency in street-cleaning and refuse collection is not only dangerous but can lead to unhealthy conditions? Will the noble Lord look closely at those authorities which, in trying to save pennies, use black plastic bags for their refuse collections? These bags are very often attacked by animals and can be highly dangerous in the streets.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, I have always been under the impression that black plastic bags are a great improvement on what preceded them.