§ Mr. ConwayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to introduce legislation to allow local authorities to appoint designated officers for the purpose of taking the name and address of any alleged litter offender for subsequent prosecution.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryI am pleased to inform my hon. Friend that our proposals for legislation to tackle the problem of litter, published on 20 July, include a provision which will allow all district and borough councils to operate a fixed penalty scheme for littering. Under such a scheme an authorised officer of the authority will be empowered to issue tickets to litterers requiring payment of a fixed penalty within a set period. Failure to pay the fixed penalty will render the offender liable to prosecution. We are not, however, proposing to give the authorised officer extra powers to demand the name and address of the offender.