HL Deb 31 January 2001 vol 621 cc59-60WA
Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the safety and public health reasons for the Royal Parks management providing mechanical sweepers to follow horses on road carriageways while providing no similar cleaning up facilities on cycle-ways and footpaths. [HL423]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

Responsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, William Weston. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter to Lord Berkeley from the Chief Executive of the Royal Parks Agency, Mr William Weston, dated 31 January 2001.

I have been asked by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to reply to your parliamentary Question about the arrangements made for cleaning horse manure from the cycle-ways and footpaths of the Royal Parks because this is an operational matter for which the agency is responsible.

We use mechanical road sweepers to clean the cycle-ways and footpaths in the Royal Parks, as we do on the roads, because this is the most efficient method of cleaning them. However, in order to deploy our resources most efficiently, the frequency with which we clean any particular path or cycle-way depends on how heavily it is used.

We only arrange for a mechanical sweeper to follow the mounted troops involved in the guard changes in St James's Park. This is because the roads in the park are particularly heavily used and because we know the timing of the troop movements. In other parks, horses are generally confined to the horse rides. The only horses that use the footpaths and cycle ways are the Royal Parks Constabulary mounted officers. Because they do not patrol regular routes at regular times we cannot arrange for contractors to clean up behind them in the same way, even if it were cost-effective to do so. We cannot legislate for those riders who occasionally use the roads and paths instead of the horse rides.

Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which organisations are responsible for street cleaning the footpath and cycle-way connecting Green Park and Constitution Hill and Hyde Park. [HL422]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

Responsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, William Weston. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter to Lord Berkeley from the Chief Executive of the Royal Parks Agency, Mr William Weston, dated 31 January 2001.

I have been asked by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to reply to your parliamentary Question about the arrangements for cleaning the cycle-ways and footpaths connecting Green Park and Constitution Hill and Hyde Park.

I understand that the responsibility for cleaning this area lies with Westminster City Council.