Redlands Liberal Democrats

Tackling litter, innovatively...

I came across two interesting news items today, relating to litter and recycling. Despite all the laws and all the 'keep Britain tidy' campaigns, this is still a major problem in the UK.

I'm still waiting to see whether the RBH will install cigarette bins outside their buildings, after my campaign earlier this year.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is campaigning to enable councils to do more to prosecute litter louts. As is often the case with legislation, a legal loophole (in this case the the Environmental Protection Act (1990)), is preventing local authorities from prosecuting people who throw litter from cars.

According to the LGA, litter thrown from vehicles accounts for a staggering 70% of all litter on our streets. Under current DEFRA guidance, councils are only able to prosecute people if they can be positively identified: hardly an easy thing for environmental officers to do when dealing with rubbish being thrown from moving vehicles! Some councils issue fixed penalty notices, others don't because of the legal obstacles.

Read more about the problem and find out about the LGA's campaign to get the law changed.

In better news, DEFRA is finally getting around to launching a pilot scheme looking at giving people cash incentives for returning empty bottles and cans. This follows pressure from anti-litter campaigner, Bill Bryson and CPRE who's "Stop the Drop" campaign was launched earlier this week.

The scheme which currently operates in Iowa, has apparently reduced the problem of litter by 70%.

Wikipedia has more info on American so-called 'bottle return' schemes

You may remember Reading University Student's Union blazed a trail on this issue last year, as the first Students Union in the UK to install a reverse recycling machine on campus.

Chris Huhne MP, who tried the machine on a visit to Reading during RUSU's "Go Green" week last year was suitably impressed, as were we. Let's hope it catches on in Reading soon.

Smokers outside the hospital doors: RBH responds

To quote the popular beat combo The Editors, a band much loved by my mate Warren:

" I can't shake this feeling I've got
My dirty hands, have I been in the wars?
The saddest thing that I'd ever seen
Were smokers outside the hospital doors "

The Chronicle has today covered my campaign to get the Royal Berks Hospital to deal with the problem of cigarette butts littering the public entrances to the hospital on Redlands Road.

I received a letter back from the Chief Executive earlier in the week with the welcome news that she has instructed her staff to review current cleaning arrangements at the various entrances to the hospital and whether it is practical to install cigarette bins.

She also says that she is 'not aware of any regular street-cleaning activity taking place around the hospital site' I am double-checking this with RBC but I find it hard to believe that there is no such regime.

More likely given the findings announced last week that cigarette butts account for a growing part of all litter on our streets the Council's teams simply cannot deal with the amount of discarded cigarette ends.

The Chief Executive calls for a "joint effort by all relevant authorities" to deal with the problem. Agreed. Less butt-passing is probably all local residents want!

Britain's biggest litter problem

As I was working today, this press release issued by DEFRA caught my eye:

"Graffiti tags and dog fouling have decreased since last year, but cigarette ends are still the most widespread kind of litter on our streets - found in 78% of sites surveyed - and fast food litter remains at the same level as last year"

This fits in with a steady stream of complaints I have received from constituents about the amount of cigarette butts discarded on the pavement outside entrances to the Royal Berks Hospital (mainly on Redlands Road).

Like all public places, the Royal Berks Hospital has had a Smoke Free policy since November 2006.

The RBH policy says it's primary focus is in protecting the health of patients, staff and visitors - which I agree should absolutely should be the Hospital's top priority.

However, there is no mention anywhere of protecting the local environment i.e. keeping the streets free of litter. The burden of this falls on the local Council.

I raised this issue with the Council's Streetcare team a little while ago who informed me today that they would be writing to the RBH asking them to install a bin. I really hope the Hospital do install a bin and accept some responsiblity

I have written to the Chief Executive, Ann Sheen OBE, asking her what she is doing to address the problem.

It seems unfair that RBC is left to pick up the entire bill for keeping the local streets clean, which has inevitably got harder since the the government's introduction of a ban on smoking in public places in 2007.

With government-backing, the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign (ENCAMs) has been campaigning to highlight this issue since 2006. It seems as though there is still a long way to go before the amount of cigarette-related litter is reduced. Part of it must be getting employers and public bodies to take on their share of the tidying up.

I did a quick search of Hansard and found Ben Bradshaw's comments on the subject from when he was DEFRA Minister last year:

"No additional funding has been provided by my Department. However, the Government have prepared for possible consequences of England going Smokefree on 1 July, including the potential increase in smoking-related litter.

In May this year, the Government published guidance for local authorities on smoking litter prevention, which was sent to all authorities in England. DEFRA has also funded four smoking litter campaigns for the current financial year. These campaigns have been organised by Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS), the organisation that runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

Central to this work is the issue of behaviour change. If smokers refrained from discarding their cigarette butts on the street, smoking-related litter would not be a problem. This is why, through the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, we took the opportunity to clarify that smoking-related litter is in fact litter. As a consequence, anyone disposing of a cigarette butt is committing a littering offence, punishable with a fixed penalty notice fine or prosecution in the magistrates court. The Government continue to encourage local authorities to use their powers in this regard to take action, where appropriate, against those discarding smoking-related litter.

We are also in the process of amending the Street Litter Control Notices Order 1991 to extend the types of premises currently falling within the scope of the Street Litter Control Notice provisions. This will enable them to be used against places which may attract outside smokers, including pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes and other eating and drinking venues. It is intended to commence this power on 1 July 2007. When there is a suitable opportunity, we also intend to amend both primary and secondary legislation so that Street Litter Control Notices can also be used in respect of offices.

In instances where a partnership approach to deal with a litter or refuse problem has failed, Street Litter Control Notices can be used by local authorities to set out what can reasonably be required of the occupier of the premises in question to minimise the detrimental impact of their operation—for example, providing bins and keeping a defined area clear of litter, including smoking-related litter.

Let's hope the RBH does something about this unsightly problem after-all, it is the base of the Berkshire Cancer Centre