Litter: Marine Environment (Hansard, 15 June 2004)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)
My Lords, the Government continue to attach priority to dealing with litter wherever it is found. On beaches the picture is a mixed one. A recent Marine Conservation Society survey showed a significant increase in the litter on beaches. On the other hand, a record number of beaches now qualify for the ENCAMS Seaside Award and the higher level Blue Flag status.
The UK is also taking action in a range of international forums to tackle and prevent the problem of litter in the sea.

§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. I hope my supplementary question will not spoil his birthday today, on which I congratulate him.
The noble Lord said that the problem of litter on beaches is variable. Does he accept that beach litter has doubled since 1994, when the surveys were first undertaken? Would it not be unacceptable if the amount of litter on our streets had doubled? Dolphins and so on are dying because they have swallowed plastic bags and litter is having a severe impact on our marine environment. Does the Minister think that our tourism industry will be severely affected by the problem? Why are the Government not running a really strong "Take your litter home" campaign?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for drawing my ageing process to the attention of the House.
621 The Government are doing a number of things in terms of public education and in improving the way we deal with litter on beaches and elsewhere. It is true that the survey identified an increase in litter on beaches in aggregate, but it is important of course that where most people go—on the main amenity beaches and resort beaches—there has been a significant improvement. That is reflected in the fact that the UK now has 372 beaches with an ENCAMS Seaside Award and 122 beaches with the Blue Flag status, which is a very significant improvement in the main family beaches. Nevertheless, I accept that there is a problem on beaches as a whole and we need to continue to take measures to restrict the litter and to pick it up.

§ Lord Howie of Troon
My Lords, I should begin by apologising to the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, who I did not see earlier on, because he was sitting so unusually far back.
With regard to litter in the sea, is my noble friend aware that an offshore wind farm is proposed off East Anglia? The proposed offshore wind farm is rectangular: it is about a mile wide—which is about the distance from here to the Tate Modern—and about two miles long, which is more or less the distance from here to King's Cross Station. That is a substantial body of litter in the sea, and it is causing much concern among shipping interests, which regard this as an intrusion that is invidious to the movement of shipping in that part of the North Sea. Is my noble friend, whose birthday it is today, as happy about this as he is about his birthday?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on working his way into the first Question. The designation of various sites for wind farms at sea does not add to the environmental problems; it promises to make a major contribution to dealing with environmental problems. I know that noble Lords, having dealt with the Energy Bill as it went through this House, have some concerns about shipping, but given the size of the installation that my noble friend referred to, frankly it would be difficult for shipping to miss it.
As a contribution towards reducing carbon, and therefore the effects of global warming—albeit in a way that requires other policies to operate as well, as my noble friend Lord Sainsbury said earlier—offshore wind farms are part of the solution, not part of the problem.

§ Lord Dixon-Smith
My Lords, I sincerely hope that all shipping misses all wind farms. To come back closer to the shore, is the Minister satisfied that maritime local authorities are adequately resourced to deal with the increasing problem of litter on their foreshores?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, I am not sure that it is a question of resources. Clearly, some beaches still suffer from a lack of effort being put into clearing them. Of course, the key issue is how and why that litter gets there in the first place. Litter minimisation and 622 education are important, as well as the means to pick up and get rid of or recycle the litter that is strewn on some of our beaches.

§ Baroness Thomas of Walliswood
My Lords, is there is any hard evidence on how much of the litter on our beaches is deposited by people visiting the beach, and how much comes from shipping and other at-sea sources?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, precisely 36.7 per cent of all litter on all beaches comes from those who visit the beaches; in other words, the kind of litter that we normally refer to. Just over 14 per cent is fishing litter, which includes some general shipping litter. The rest relates to sewerage litter. More specific shipping litter including oil drums and so on are only about 2 per cent.

Lord Berkeley
My Lords, in that case, could my noble friend say how many ship operators have been prosecuted for dumping litter around our coasts in the past five years?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, dumping litter would probably be the wrong reference. In terms of spillages, there have been very few prosecutions, and that is something to which the Government, and governments more generally, should pay greater attention.

§ Baroness Sharples
My Lords, is the noble Lord satisfied that there are enough areas in which rubbish and litter can be dealt with?

§ Lord Whitty
My Lords, if the noble Baroness means in terms of the actual beach sites, one of the problems is that there are not enough areas where members of the public can put litter and from which it can be recycled or dealt with. If she means more generally whether the number of landfill sites is sufficient for this sort of litter, the answer is "yes". Of course, we have a policy on waste disposal that will have alternatives to landfill sites. It is the more dangerous forms of litter about which there continues to be some anxiety.