(2) pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 4W, on roadside advertisements, how many unauthorised roadside advertisements have been removed as a result of local authority intervention; and what their locations were;
(3) pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 4W, on roadside advertisements, how many people have been prosecuted for displaying or refusing to remove unauthorised roadside advertisements in the last period for which figures are available;
(4) whether she has received evidence of advertising companies continuing to solicit business using unauthorised roadside sites.
In the last 12 months three meetings have been held with representatives of local planning authorities and officials have written to local authorities about the removal of unauthorised roadside advertisements. The information we have shows that 303 unlawful advertisements have been removed as a result of local authority action: 243 from Greater Manchester, Merseyside and parts of Cheshire and Lancashire; 17 from North Wiltshire; 14 from Solihull; 13 from North Lincolnshire; eight from Salisbury; two each from Barnet, Chester, and Daventry; and one each from Colchester and North Tyneside. The information about how many offenders have been prosecuted for displaying or refusing to remove unauthorised roadside advertisements is not held centrally. The unlawful advertisements and fly-posting database will hold information about successful prosecutions when the database is launched later this month. The Department has not received evidence of advertising companies continuing to solicit business using unauthorised roadside sites. However, where local authorities have taken firm action to remove advertisements, it is important to prevent an increase in adverts in neighbouring local authorities who have not taken firm action. That is why the Government are publishing new advice on best practice for all local authorities alongside the new database.