§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has asked Northumberland county council to remove litter bins from lay-bys on trunk roads; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerRequirements concerning litter bins were included in a code of practice for routine maintenance of motorways and all-purpose trunk roads published earlier this year by my Department for the guidance of local highway authorities, including Northumberland county council, which acts as our agent in the maintenance of motorways and trunk roads. The requirements include the removal of litter bins from those trunk road lay-bys without facilities, and the erection of notices advising road users to take their litter away, except at designated picnic sites and lay-bys with facilities such as toilets, picnic tables and litter bins.
Drivers normally stop at lay-bys without facilities for only a very short time and they and their passengers do not often walk far from the car. Litter bins tend not to be used and they are frequently blown or knocked over. A carefully monitored experiment in which litter bins have been removed at selected lay-bys has shown that the litter problem has not generally been any worse after the removal of the bins. The code of practice does, however, require agent authorities to clean up lay-bys on a regular periodical basis.
The code of practice was published after extensive consultations with the local authority associations and discussions with the County Surveyors' Society. It is designed to achieve consistency of routine maintenance standards for the Department's roads and to obtain the best value for the money spent.