Amendments Nos. 48a and 51a are related and may be discussed together by agreement.
SECTION 28.
Chairman
I move amendment No. 48a:
In page 23, subsection (2) (b). line 1, after "payment" to insert "for the sole purpose of funding actions to eradicate litter".
This subsection states that local authorities shall receive payment and issue a receipt. I wish to focus this subsection towards the Bill's objective of reducing and, I hope, eradicating the litter problem. To do that, all payments should be labelled and clearly intended to help towards that goal. That is why I propose that payments should be for the sole purpose of funding action to eradicate litter. We already know how poorly resourced litter control is in proportion to the problem. Many people welcomed this legislation with the proviso that it be resourced because enforcement and resourcing are where it will succeed or fail. One way of buttressing that and resourcing the legislation is by any payments being specifically dedicated to that purpose.
I do not accept the argument because it is vulnerable in a few areas. Fines would be a small proportion of the £20 million currently expended on cleaning up litter. If fines were seen as a direct correlation with litter abatement, they might be seen by councillors or officials as the only money to be spent on it. I would prefer to leave discretion. It is not of overall consequence and local authorities must provide a much more constructive overall plan requiring significant resources. For that reason, there would be an understanding that small revenues would go to support this programme anyway. However, we should not give the impression that this is in any way adequate in itself by saying that it is a source of income to fund litter abatement policies. I hope the Deputy accepts the logic of that.
I have yet to come across adequate funding for a litter programme. There is a psychological rather than a financial point made here in that people feel that this is the poor relation in local authority activity and that money collected will go towards the local authority's overall budget. The Bill already states that money from fines, etc., should go towards litter eradication programmes. That said, there is an acknowledgment that the fines will help in some way with resources. If people are psychologically reassured that this is a just punishment and that the fine will in some way help prevent the problem occurring in the future, it will gain wider public acceptance and tilt the balance in favour of litter control.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Section 28 agreed to.