Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the cleanliness of beaches in Lancashire.

Responsibility for keeping beaches clear of litter and refuse rests with the landowner or the local council in the case of amenity beaches. The Code of practice on litter and refuse sets out the cleaning standards expected on amenity beaches.

Councils have enforcement powers to deter littering including the ability to issue fixed penalty notices (on-the-spot fines) of up to £500. They can also ban items like disposable barbecues from their beaches.

We welcome all beach litter collection efforts, such as the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean including in Lancashire this week. The UK Government funds the Marine Conservation Society to record litter from sections of our coast which helps us monitor the levels and trends of plastic pollution across several years. This data is used in combination with other monitoring data to inform our decisions about how to tackle marine litter.