§ Baroness Sharp of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether local authorities have the power to pass a by-law requiring all shops and sales outlets in their jurisdiction to take deposits on all sales of bottles and cans containing alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. [HL3089]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)Although by-laws are local laws that are usually made by local authorities, they cannot come into effect until they are confirmed by a Secretary of State. One of the criteria for confirmation of by-laws is that they directly address a specific local problem and do not attempt to deal with essentially national issues. We would therefore have to consider carefully any proposals that are put to us for by-laws requiring deposits on sales of drink containers.