§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the present level of litter on the Al2 trunk road between the M11 and the A14 is acceptable and to what firm the Highways Agency has given the contract for collection of litter from this stretch of road. [HL1524]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)No amount of litter is acceptable on any road, but the problem is exacerbated by disposal of rubbish by the general public.
However, the responsibility of litter collection on the Al2 trunk road lies solely with the respective district council through which the road passes. This was defined in law under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and standards of cleanliness that should be maintained are set out in a code of practice.
The relevant district councils are: Brentwood District Council (Essex), Chelmsford District Council (Essex), Malden District Council (Essex), Braintree District Council (Essex), Colchester District Council (Essex) and Babergh District Council (Suffolk).
While the Highways Agency has no direct responsibility for litter collection, it has taken a proactive role in ensuring that it is carried out. The agency has aimed to achieve this by allowing the district councils access when traffic management is in place for other reasons, such as when roadworks are carried out, so that they can work safely and minimise their costs. Additionally, the agency has been meeting with the relevant district councils to discuss how they fulfil their duty, which is to keep the area clean.
As a result of their discussions, the Highways Agency offered the district councils the opportunity to work with our maintaining agents while scavenging patrols were carried out. Scavenging patrols are carried out to remove any items which are causing a safety hazard or are arguably not typical litter, i.e. lorry tyres, fridges, gas bottles etc. Since such patrols in themselves require traffic management to ensure the safety of the workforce and the travelling public, the district councils were offered the opportunity to work within the traffic management to remove the litter which it is their duty to remove.
115WAIn addition, through the discussions with the district councils, the Highways Agency has been able to obtain assurances from them that they would work together to maximise the amount of work that can be done during their litter patrols.
The district councils have now proposed a programme for carrying out their works, and the Highways Agency will discuss this with them to make sure that the greatest use is made of everyone's resources.