Enforce the littering and social distancing laws to protect our natural spaces · petition

What the petition asks

Since lockdown restrictions have started to lift, groups of people are gathering in natural spaces, forests, parks, beaches and areas of outstanding natural beauty, discarding their litter mindlessly. We want the government to enforce the social distancing and littering laws to protect our nature.

This behaviour is a danger to wildlife. It is unsightly and ruins views, river walks, countryside, beaches and other areas of outstanding natural beauty. Littering encourages and Increases negative behaviour. It reduces people’s sense of well-being, creates lawlessness and encourages greater criminal behaviour. Areas degraded by rubbish attract disease. Removal costs councils millions of pounds each year while the packaging and fast-food industry who create the problem are not held to account.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

The Government is responsible for passing legislation defining offences relating to littering and Covid-19 restrictions, but enforcing this is a matter for the police, not the Government or House of Commons.

We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:

Increase penalties, enforcement and education to tackle littering & fly tipping: Increase penalties, enforcement and education to tackle littering & fly tipping

Introduce heavy fixed penalties starting at £1000 minimum for littering: Introduce heavy fixed penalties starting at £1000 minimum for littering

The Government has also announced that it is imposing further restrictions on social gatherings, and will support Local Authorities and police forces to respond to breaches of COVID-19 Secure guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-what-has-changed-9-september

Timeline

26 Jun 2020	Petition opened for signatures
10 Sep 2020	Rejected by the Petitions Committee