London Local Authorities Bill [Lords]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey) will welcome his support for her argument, because he is absolutely right. We know what needs to be done, because we have plenty of recommendations and evidence that would eliminate the need for clause 5. In June 2006 Environmental Campaigns—ENCAMS—produced the report ““What is the Situation with Cigarette-Related Litter in England?””, which set out some recommendations. We know from the sponsor of the Bill and the explanatory notes that clause 5 is intended to tackle above all else, but not exclusively, the new phenomenon of smoking outside, because of the ban on smoking in public places. On research and monitoring, ECAMS recommended:"““An accessible, repeatable monitoring methodology could be developed to measure the quantity of cigarette butts in the environment, and therefore better understand the impact of interventions.””" One of the problems is that we appear to be going down the route of putting forward legislation without fully appreciating the nature and scale of the problem. On education and communication, it recommends:"““The successful ENCAMS cigarette-related litter campaign could be repeated in the future, to build on the momentum it has generated. The learnings from the 2006 campaign should be built into the 2007 campaign””" and campaigns in future years, and:"““Additional communications campaigns could be developed to target specific stakeholder groups in areas where cigarette litter tends to accumulate.””" This is a far better solution that would target where there is a problem and cigarette litter tends to accumulate, rather than having a blanket policy that applies everywhere, whether or not there is problem. On ashtrays and infrastructure, it recommends"““ENCAMS existing list of ashtray suppliers could be further expanded and developed to include a description of the characteristics and price of ashtrays. This could be complemented by a set of best practice guidelines to provide advice on the type of ashtrays that are suitable in different contexts.””" On enforcement, it recommends"““Ways to increase enforcement levels could be investigated, such as further training programmes for enforcement officers and street wardens.””" It seems to me that the report was not blaming the non-dwellings. ENCAMS seems to be saying that it is the councils that need to raise their game.