§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prosecutions have been pursued and how many convictions secured in respect of offences under the Litter Act 1983 in each of the last three years; and whether they consider this measure is providing adequate discouragement of such offences.
§ Lord Williams of MostynInformation on prosecutions and convictions under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which replaced Section 1(3) of the Litter Act 1983, is given in the table.
Number of defendants prosecuted and convicted for litter offences under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, 1994–1996 England and Wales Year Total prosecutions Total convictions 1994 1,164 952 1995 1,101 723 1996 626 468 Prosecution through the courts is not the only deterrent available to local authorities to deal with this problem. The Act also contains the provision for local authorities to issue a fixed penalty notice to a person they believe has committed an offence. Payment within 14 days of the notice discharges any liability to conviction for that offence. A survey of local authorities identified that of 886 fixed penalty notices in 1996–97, 762 were paid. In January 1997, the fixed penalty was raised from £10 to £25.