UK – the state of Englands streets

The Government has spelled out the key local environmental and anti-social behaviour issues faced by communities, and highlighted the action it wants to see tackled with increased urgency. Local environmental quality Minister Alun Michael was joined by Home Office Minister Hazel Blears, and Yvette Cooper of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to launch the second annual survey of the state of England’s streets, carried out for Defra by environmental charity ENCAMS.



The survey, which quantifies changes in local environmental quality over the past year and reflects the link between the state of our public spaces and anti-social behaviour, revealed a mixed picture including:

a 27% reduction in dog fouling an increase in litter of up to 12%

an overall improvement in recreation areas, including a record increase in the number of Green Flags awarded

a marked increase in chewing gum deposition, occurring on two-thirds of all sites measured, and increasing to 94% in town centres

an overall improvement in coastal resorts, including an increase in the number of Blue Flags awarded

Sites were graded on a scale of good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or poor, with 40% of sites scoring good or satisfactory, 54% unsatisfactory, and 6% poor. Crucially, the report found that a high proportion of the unsatisfactory sites would move into the satisfactory bracket with simple management changes at local authority level, and without need for additional resources.



Alun Michael welcomed the progress made, and urged local authorities to act to bring more areas up to the satisfactory standard. Addressing the survey’s key findings, he outlined the action which has been taken to bring about the improvements, and the action Government now wants to see in order to take those improvements further. He highlighted:

the publication of a Government consultation on tackling fly-tipping more effectively

the successful ENCAMS publicity campaign to reduce dog fouling

the creation of an action group to tackle irresponsible chewing gum disposal, bringing together manufacturers, the Local Government Association, Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, the Department for Education and Skills, and others

development of a national initiative for tackling abandoned vehicles

a Voluntary Code of Practice for the Fast Food Industry, based on successful pilots across the country which saw litter deposition buck the national trend and fall by 20%

tools to support local authorities in improving the quality of local environments, including a website which provides a single source of information on public spaces