Mr. Neubertasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many cases have been brought under the Litter Act; how many convictions obtained and the total amount of fines charged in each of the years since the Act came into force and for the first six months of 1974.
§ Mr. Denis HowellThe figures for the first six months of 1974 are not yet available. The number of prosecutions, convictions and fines for the years 1958 to 1973 in England and Wales are as follows:
Prosecutions Convictions Fines 1958 … 268 262 241 1959 … 2,450 2,370 2,284 1960 … 2,599 2,527 2,447 1961 … 2,395 2,322 2,243 1962 … 2,530 2,457 2,386 1963 … 2,736 2,648 2,561 1964 … 2,984 2,866 2,789 1965 … 2,914 2,803 2,744 1966 … 2,773 2,670 2,609 1967 … 2,962 2,851 2,769 1968 … 2,435 2,342 2,273 1969 … 1,925 1,865 1,814 1970 … 1,854 1,777 1,727 1971 … 1,944 1,855 1,793 1972 … 2,356 2,275 2,179 1973 … 2,672 2,531 2,443 The yearly totals of fines for the years 1958 to 1970 inclusive are not available. The yearly totals of fines for 1971 and 1972, i.e., since the coming into force of the Dangerous Litter Act on 27th June 1971, were £10,679 and £16,874 respectively. The 1973 total is not yet available. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is.
The level of fines in the three years 1971, 1972 and 1973 was:
§ Mr. MulleyBritish Rail published its proposals for the route at the end of January. There have since been detailed exhibitions all along the line. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 1st July that he had agreed with the Chairman of British Rail that the decision on the route should be deferred until the end of this year to allow more time for full consideration of the 291W issues in consultation with the local planning authorities. The route will finally be fixed by Parliament when it considers the proposed British Railways Bill.