PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Balloons and Sky Lanterns: Litter (14 September 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to bring forward legislative proposals to classify the intentional outdoor release of (a) helium-filled balloons and (b) sky lanterns for commemorative, social or publicity events as acts of littering under current legislation.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

There are no plans to bring forward legislation to classify the intentional outdoor release of helium-filled balloons and sky lanterns as acts of littering. Councils in England already have powers under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act to take an individual to court if they believe them to be guilty of a littering offence or, as an alternative, they may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Answered by:
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Conservative)
9 October 2017