 The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 5590, in the name of Kenneth Gibson on Adopt a Road. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request-to-speak buttons. I call on Kenneth Gibson to open the debate around seven minutes, please, Mr Gibson. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I also wish to thank everyone who signed my motion to secure debating time in the chamber and, indeed, also thank colleagues who will speak this evening. There is no denying that Scotland is a massive societal problem when it comes to fly-tipping and littering, sadly probably more so than many other countries in north-western Europe. Unsurprising, the majority of Scots believe that litter is in some way a huge problem in their own community. The negative impact of litter is well-known. It's not only bad for the health of the environment, but it's also proven to adversely affect people's mental health. While we've seen promising measures delivered by the Scottish Government in recent years, such as abandon and single-use plastic items that came into force on 1 June, it's obvious that littering remains a challenge as long as some people, a lot of people, unfortunately, thoughtlessly and selfishly throw things away without regard for others or the environment. According to Keep Scotland Beautiful, 50 tonnes of litter is abandoned on Scotland's roadside each month, and 83 per cent of motorways and airroads accorded litter at present. A high level of littering tends to lead to a vicious circle whereby the detriment to the cleanliness of an area also has a significant and lasting impact. A landmark 1990 study showed that littering more than doubles in areas that already have litter, and some people, usually inclined to bend their waste, then consider it acceptable to leave rubbish in areas that already appear rundown and dirty. I welcome recent cross-party efforts to reduce littering, and I was glad to read that Murdo Fraser's proposed member's bill to reduce the instance of fly tipping is expected to be incorporated into a Government bill following a meeting with the minister. Littering can be deterred to a modest degree by the threat and enforcement of fines. However, today I wish to focus on more positive solutions and what Zero Waste Scotland identified as the most important factor to cut the problem, a sense of personal responsibility, awareness of environmental consequences and feelings of community. The strategy is well tested in areas around the world. For instance, in Rwanda, where the national holiday of Umaganda, which takes place on the last Saturday of every month for nationwide community work from 8am to 11am, has resulted in a notable improvement in the cleanliness of the country. In North America, the adopt a highway concept, which began in 1980s Texas, has been another huge success and has become national practice across much of the United States and Canada. The scheme started when volunteers rallied to keep the state's highways clear of litter, with community service clubs adopting a two-mile stretch of motorway and taking responsibility for its clean-up. As the idea spread, companies started taking responsibility for clean-ups in return for small advertising signs along the road to recognise their efforts. As of 2021, more than 120,000 California residents have participated in the initiative, removing litter and graffiti, planting trees and wild flowers and clearing vegetation along over 15,000 shoulder miles of roadside. The example shows that mobilising community organisations and local businesses is a most powerful remedy in relation to the social factors that are driving littering along with anti-litter education and legislation. Such initiatives are more than just a temporary fix, they encourage respect to the environment by building a sense of civic pride and belonging. I have supported and encouraged their adoption locally for years, but sadly with little success. I was therefore delighted when on November last year, after I contacted them regarding road adoption, not for the first time, North Asia Council approved a similar adopt a spot initiative as part of their street scene volunteering strategy. That came after an initial pilot involving a volunteer group in Irvine was evaluated and shown to have significant benefits. Similar to schemes in North America, that programme has been designed to encourage and support individuals, local businesses, schools and other groups. Each carries out volunteer litter picks in a community space of their choice as part of a sustained effort to engage local communities and bring about environmental improvements. The chosen spot will be in a mutually agreeable area within council ownership such as a street, park, beach, path, business frontage or the route to a local school. A simple application form is supplied either electronically or by post for the volunteers to complete. It is sent up to the council to review the spot and assess whether it is appropriate and safe. Once agreed, volunteers informally adopt a spot where the local authority provides them with the appropriate equipment, such as litter pickers, plastic bags along with hives, vests and gloves. North Asia Council also envisages using their mapping portal to record areas still available for adoption to help to coordinate many of the existing network of volunteers who regularly collect litter. The litter picking work is then recognised by the council through social media and an appropriate sign in the spot where the litter was picked to highlight the partnership work involved. The scheme will hopefully improve civic pride and empowerment in our communities and gradually lead to a change in littering behaviour. Businesses and charities can also participate and gain recognition by taking ownership of a spot. I believe that similar initiatives could also be piloted in other local authorities across Scotland. It would be helpful if the Scottish Government could encourage them, not least by including provisions for such schemes in its national litter and fly tipping strategy. I would also urge every member present today to write to their respective councils and encourage them to pilot their own adopt a road initiatives. It is clear that a range of actions will be necessary to tackle Scotland's shameful litter problem. The adopt a road initiative has been trialled across North America for decades and proven to be huge and successful in moving countless tonnes of roadside rubbish. Public acknowledgement of volunteers' contribution will help to invoke people's civic pride and create a greater sense of personal responsibility. Concepts found to be some of the most effective ways of changing behaviours when it comes to littering. I hope that the successful pilot of adopt a spot in North Asia will inspire more local authorities across Scotland to successfully take forward similar schemes and I look forward to hearing other contributions this evening in the debate. Thank you, Mr Gibson. I now call Siobhan Brown to be followed by Grim Simpson. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I start by thanking my colleague Kenneth Gibson for bringing this debate to Parliament? If I may begin with the hit TV show, Seinfeld, fans of the show may recall the episode where the eccentric Cramer announces with great delight that he's become a proud father to a one-mile stretch of road and he is part of the solution. In typical fashion he decides that he will do everything himself and he'll even bring the roadside home to clean in the sink. Unfortunately it ends in disaster after he decides to widen the lanes and spills flammable paint thinner everywhere. Civic pride is important but maybe in this instance perhaps not. Prior to being elected as an MSP I was a councillor at South Asia Council and I was always really extremely frustrated at the litter that was left on the side of the roads, our beaches and our streets and also the anger and sometimes public perception of litter. As a councillor I received many angry emails from constituents who walked past litter, got their phones out, took a photo, emailed a complaint to me about the lack of council services and litter and I genuinely believe that some people have an expectation that they pay council tax and they pay people to lift the litter for them and they don't need to lift litter and they have no responsibility themselves and the blame seems to be on the council instead of the real culprits. South Asia Council covers close to 400 square miles and in my constituency Brassie, Trun, Presswick and Eir all have a large beach and in the summer our beaches are destination points for thousands to flock and enjoy the sun and although our beaches have wooden footprint signs which say leave nothing here but footprints and fortunately this is never the case and I remember one extremely sunny day when my daughter was down at the beach with my mother while I was working and I went down after five and there were thousands of people on the beach and in the water and the entire beach was littered with empty drink cartons, soiled nappies, discarded towels, buckets and spades and being a councillor at the time and we had issues with air, beach, water quality only knew too well that if this litter was not going to be collected it was all going to be washed out to see that night so I put out a call on my social media and thankfully around 40 volunteers turned up within an hour's notice to meet at 6 p.m at the beach once most of the crowds have gone and we removed the rubbish so it didn't go out to see it would have been impossible for the council workers that evening to remove all the litter from every beach in South Ayrshire. As award councillor I also held Airtown Centre Blitzers once a month really to highlight the litter problem on private property which is out with the responsibility of the council and myself and a group of volunteers committed just one hour on a Saturday and we would go to private properties such as flats at the train station and also private car parts which many people walk through and remove litter in some months depending on how many volunteers turned up we could collect over 40 bags of rubbish in one hour but we left air a better place and we felt better about it. Many of us do have this civic pride and want to clean the world but it should not be just left for a few to do we must all have civic pride desire and responsibility to not only look after our communities but our nation other countries we visit and collectively our world. Kenneth has already explained how this works an individual organisation adopts a small stretch of road takes responsibility for picking up the litter and keeping it clean they can get to contribute to the community and businesses to get promotion and advertising out of it the scheme is the scheme has seen a huge uptake in the USA with every state having adopted a road program and the state of Texas led the way with their slogan don't mess with Texas encouraging people to put their litter in the bin and take pride in the area 120,000 people as Kenneth did say previously in California has taken part and removed litter graffiti and planted trees and wildflowers for over 15,000 miles of roadside as I've previously stated previously stated it's not realistic expectation that the council clean up every bit of litter across the local authority that's why I think adopt a road program approved successful in South Asia it would allow individuals and groups to split up a large area like South Asia and care for it's a small part it's really sad sight to be driving along a road with plastic bottles and crisp packets lying everywhere it affects badly on our area in our country as a whole to visitors the people of Scotland have already shown that they will engage with such a move to dresser's problem and in my constituency Allaway Rotary Air Rotary Presswick Community Council and Friends of Trin have been doing this work for many years this demonstrates community spirit that the people of Scotland have. I will conclude with this quote never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world indeed it's the only thing that ever has thank you thank you miss Brian and I call Grim Simpson to be followed by Christine Grimm Mr Simpson yeah thank you very much and can I also congratulate Kenny Gibson on securing this debate I have to confess I was surprised to see Mr Gibson's name against a motion because he like me is not a great user of parliamentary motions but this one is really worth it I think I would also like to say I was amused actually to be chosen by my whips office to take part in the debate I think it says something about them they must have just looked at the title and seen adopt a road and and looked at the word road and thought that's one that's one for our transport spokesman of course it's not about roads it's about litter and the motion the very long motion I have to say concentrates on a scheme in America I would just say when looking up some details about that particular scheme issue a word of caution if we were to roll that out across Scotland because in an early part of its roll out the KKK actually adopted part of a highway but fortunately that didn't last I don't think we'll have that problem here I would say to members I'm not convinced we have to replicate what exists in America because we have a number of very good schemes already actually but I've run by volunteers in various parts of Scotland I agree with what Chavon Brown was saying about the beaches in Ayrshire my family's we like to visit Trun beach and I've been down there quite a lot and I've often seen litter pickers actually with yellow jackets on picking up litter on Trun beach it's a real shame because it's a wonderful part of the world and in my patch in the region I represent we've got a number of local groups East Kilbride community litter pickers who I've been out with a few times that was formed during the pandemic in March 2021 and their Facebook group now has 1700 members that's a lot of people and they're out every single week several times a week in various parts of the town South Lanarkshire council supplies them with rubbish bags and they then tell the council where the bags are and they come and pick them up so it really works when I've been out with them I've come across all kinds of odd things I have to say it's mainly drink related cans and bottles something called dragon soup and features quite a lot and I saw a sofa dumped at one point I couldn't get that in a litter bag the group has found some really odd things a 1970 crisp packet and an inflatable pink flamingo was found by them but we've got yes certainly Kenneth Gibson I have to say you're reminding me of when I was first elected in 2007 and asked the council to clear up the Haley brain large no one had mentioned it to me but I noticed there was a lot of rubbish there and I found out that there were some what they called tenants lager lovelies from the 1980s so that area hadn't been cleared for some 20 years isn't it it's now kept clean by the local authority but the point I was wanting to make is this scheme is not about being the only scheme it's about you know being additional to other schemes and it gives people a sense of ownership over a wee part of the road I mean I also have organised and participated in many beach cleans and I know I imagine most if not all members have done so so it's really about giving a wee bit more pride to a specific community in this specific area and trying to ensure that there's a bit more long term work carried out to clear up this specific location I think Kenny Gibson makes a good point this isn't one size fits all I'm just merely saying that there are schemes out there there are a lot of people who want to clean up their areas and they're doing it with council support North Lanarkshire Council also in my patch also helps a number of local groups time won't allow me to to name them but there is good work going on but you know if we if there's a council out there that wants to set up a scheme like this then then good if it works the frustrating thing for me is when I go out litter picking I mean you can go to a an area a road that's been done you know because you've been out there you know a couple of weeks earlier and it's just full of rubbish and you think you know why why do people do this why do people mess up the areas that they live in that is the problem the problem is not the community minded people who are going out there to clear it up we have to tackle it at source but well done to Kenny Gibson for bringing the debate and I look forward to hearing others thank you mr Simpson I now call Christine Graham who will be followed by Willie Coffey and Willie Coffey will be the last speaker before I ask the minister to respond miss Graham thank you very much deputy Presiding Officer and before I proceed I'm disappointed that the previous speaker had be whipped to speak in this delightful debate make such a delightful contribution members debate should be free and easy and don't require whipping I just bring that to you as an experienced politician that you are anyway I thank my colleagues Kenny Gibson for bringing forward this motion for debate particularly as it's introduced me and I suspect other members to a completely new concept adopt a road I'm aware of the adopt a station programme especially as a sponsor of a planter at Gore bridge station this arrangement of some years standing took a substantial effort by local residents and negotiations with network rail which included issues of safety a matter I'll return to on the issue of adopt a road but I also endorse everything that's been said about littering which infuriates me and isn't always local people they drop the stuff at car windows and just drive on and of course sofas on the side of the road are sort of almost an essential of some people in society don't know why anyway I know what the experience in the USA in particular I look to California, Texas and British Columbia's random samples none are identical but are similar in the programs in California the program adopt a road or a highway individuals can donate materials and groups to can donate materials equipment and services and one of the other things is to help prevent pollutants 73% of volunteers 27% are sponsors in texas they have this wonderful motto only in texas don't mess with texas any group can apply to their local coordinators and they're provided with and here I come to safety safety vests they call them trash bags there of course safety training and signposts identifying the adopters so they get a bit of credit for what they're doing and so on in British Columbia there's different rules in particular participants between the ages of 12 and 16 must be supervised that seemed to me to common sense but there's a you've got to give a 10-year commitment that's a lot to ask of volunteers there's no people who'll be dead keen at the beginning and then they begin to drift like the melting snow in principle therefore I think it's a good idea and I can think of several communities in Midlothian South Twedale and Lauderdale who would express an interest I'm not going to name them and land them in it but I can think of them already who do take pride in their communities I might also add it might encourage motorists of tempering the 20 mile an hour speed limit through many of those communities now when they see particularly if there's signs identifying community engagement with keeping the area tidy I could say that I want to take the idea to both councils in my constituency that's Midlothian and to the borders but back again key of course to me is the issue of safety and that's why I find the requirements in Texas of particular interest because it's a different matter picking up litter in a park but the side of a busy road is another matter entirely and also it must not supplant or indeed replace the the duties that have come upon the local authority when you pay your council tax and so on so it's an add-on so with that caveat about safety as I say I'll be contacting both my councils and I've already thought of slogans when I go back to Texas don't mess with Texas now these are only work in progress so bear with me there's don't blight borders and don't mess up Midlothian but as I say they are workers in progress thank you miss Graham and I now call willy coffee mr coffee thanks very much Presiding Officer thank you and congratulations to Kerry Gibson for bringing this debate to Parliament it's a great idea and I hope the members take it on board with their local councils as Mr Gibson asks us to do whilst it deals with the important single issue of adopting a road to promote and encourage civic pride in how our communities look it also comes at a really good time as the government is putting the finishing touches to its national planning framework in there we hope there will be some detail on how we can better deal with the wider problem of dereliction within our cities towns and villages dereliction of empty buildings empty shops mostly and derelict parcels of land long abandoned I'm sure all of us will recognise the problem in our own communities and this extends beyond the litter issue so the proposal described by Kenny Gibson fits neatly in my view with the ideas coming down the line via npf4 as we consider what our communities could look like in the future one of the most frustrating things I've ever had to put up within my term of office Presiding Officer stretches back many years now is our ability or the lack of it to take effective action against owners to make an effort in cleaning up what they own within our town centres often shops that are empty are left to deteriorate signs fall off graffiti and posters get stuck to the windows and weeds abound when a little bit of effort might prevent this in addition I know of many vacant parcels of land especially within the urban setting that are simply abandoned and left to rot inevitably we turn to the council to step in to try and help but I think it's unfair to expect the public purse to continually bail out the private sector whose responsibility is to maintain their own properties and land using immunity powers under the planning act it simply doesn't do the job as the burden can still fall on the public purse even if cases are successfully pursued one of the biggest issues is that we don't know who owners actually are they can be local people but often they can be fund management companies who frankly don't give a jot about whether our towns and villages look nice or not and I think it's time they did so something needs to change perhaps we need stronger legislation but maybe this initiative is the beginning of a new process that can turn these problems around voluntarily starting with adopting the roads idea but how about going a little bit further if this is a success adopt a street an unused piece of land around about even the welcome signage into our towns the list could grow and engage the business sector to sponsor these sites in return for advertising space in the area that's being adopted when I travelled around Ireland and Scotland over the summer Presiding Officer from Dingel and County Kerry to Dingel and Russia I was struck by the cleanliness of many of those features in the towns and villages I passed through clearly local pride was to the fore with businesses often working in partnership as key sponsors streets were clean litter free signage features coming into the towns were attractive even entrance roundabouts were landscaped and had some public artwork installed all very impressive I recently put some of these ideas to my own council at East Dershire and I think it would be fair to say that I have a job of working my hands persuading them to embrace some of this particularly those elements within the local road network but I'll keep at it until we see the light and closing Presiding Officer I think this initiative brought to our attention by Kenny Gibson is a great opportunity for our communities to play a direct part in making their communities look as good as they possibly can local businesses must play their part too and I hope that the idea will take root and that will see continual improvements year on year that will make us all proud of the cities towns and villages that we call home thank you thank you mr coffee and I now call on Lawrence Slater to respond to the debate around seven minutes please minister thank you Presiding Officer I'm sorry for shifting my seat my car didn't work in that spot so just make a note of that I want to thank and congratulate Kenny Gibson for securing this member's business debate debate and also to thank those members who contributed to the debate I welcome their views littering is unacceptable whatever the circumstances and there is no excuse for this behaviour anywhere in Scotland cleaning up litter cost public bodies 53 million pounds a year therefore any suggestion on how to tackle this scourge on our local communities is to be welcomed it is an incredibly important issue for our citizens and for our environmental goals listening to the views that were expressed it is clear that tackling litter particularly roadside litter is an important issue for constituencies across this country tackling litter can only be done through a shared approach and collaboration between all stakeholders across Scotland to encourage litter prevention and behaviour change exploring the use of flexible and innovative interventions in support of litter prevention and removal is vital so is sharing best practice from within scotland but also internationally as we've heard today the enthusiasm shown in this debate is testament to the strength of collaboration volunteering and the empowerment of communities in my closing remarks I would like to make it clear that the Scottish government's views on litter as well as reiterate the value and importance of innovative approaches and volunteering in Scotland these are countless individuals and community groups who clear up our beautiful country all year round and I would like to take the opportunity today to thank those people for their efforts and commitment to preserving our national environmental quality the Scottish government values the massive contribution that volunteers make to people's lives we recognise that they give their time to volunteer and make things better for others volunteering is good for the volunteer too building skills enhancing employability and supporting mental wellbeing across scotland volunteers make absolutely vital contributions every day to their families communities and society as a whole they do it because they care and want to help and support others throughout scotland people are volunteering and contributing on the issues that matter to them scotland's volunteering action plan will increase awareness of the vital role of volunteers in the delivery of services across scotland from health and social care children and families and sport volunteering is powerful and it matters as this debate is focused on roadside litter I wanted to clarify that the trunk road network is maintained on behalf of Scottish Scottish ministers by transport Scotland through contracts with a number of operating companies and design build finance operate concessionaries under the environmental protection act of 1990 litter collection is the responsibility of local authority even when the road is a trunk road with the exception of motorways it is for a locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services in their local communities and to respond to litter on public land however I understand the important role that collaboration between stakeholders and raising awareness can play in the battle against littering since 2016 keep scotland beautiful has coordinated a roadside litter campaign give your litter a lift take it home I don't know how that sits with christine slogans with the member slogans give your litter a lift and take it home which raises awareness of the scale and impact of roadside litter encouraging road users to do the right thing by rolling out new materials and to deliver its key message the scottish government is committed to doing its bit by to tackle litter scotland's deposit return scheme will launch next august and by giving plastic and glass bottles and other containers as identified by the members during the debate a value of 20 pence each we expect to see a big reduction in those items being littered and that is not all we're doing earlier this year I launched two important consultations the first is our waste route map to 2025 a strategic plan to deliver scotland's zero waste and circular economy ambitions this sets out how we intend to deliver our system-wide comprehensive vision for scotland's circular economy the second is our proposals for legislation a circular economy bill to give us the powers we need to deliver on our ambitions the circular economy bill proposes to introduce a new penalty for littering from vehicles and ask respondents to its recent consultation if they agreed with the introduction of a new system that stipulates that the registered keeper of a vehicle is ultimately responsible for criminal offences such as littering from or in relation to their vehicle this enabling power would help reduce the tons of litter that needs to be cleared from our roads each month of course legislation is only part of our toolkit we need to consider all the policies and levers we have at our disposal we will therefore publish a new national litter and fly tipping strategy later this year where key actions will be grouped under three key themes of behaviour change services and infrastructure and enforcement one of the key objectives in the strategy will be to develop and adopt a shared approach between stakeholders to litter prevention and behaviour change across scotland the new strategy will also aim to empower community groups to take action to tackle littering behaviour at a local level in summary I recognise the amazing contribution of volunteers and we want to ensure that everyone who wishes can contribute to their local community and beyond through volunteering volunteering can help us with some of the biggest challenges we are facing and brings benefits for volunteers who experience disadvantage and exclusion it is also important to note that the new national litter and fly tipping strategy will frame the dialogue around littered or fly tipped materials within the context of a leakage to the circular economy which is a loss to scotland's wider economy so while we whilst we recognise the importance of litter picks and other valuable citizen led activity such as the one suggested at the heart of this motion we are striving to create a scotland where the need for such activity in the future is eliminated thank you thank you minister that concludes the debate and I close this meeting