To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs given the prevalence of ongoing defacement of public property at locations such as railway bridges, what plans he has to amend the guidance to district councils under Paragraph 33 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

The Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act (NI) 2011 strengthened the powers available to district councils to deal with a range of local issues including graffiti, posters and placards. Section 33 relates to guidance in respect of sections 31 and 32 (Defacement Removal Notices - DRNs), which I currently have no plans to amend. However, DRNs are not intended to be used to deal with new / ongoing cases of graffiti, rather to enable district councils to clear surfaces that were defaced by graffiti over time.

Article 18 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 1985 includes powers for district councils to tackle graffiti, placards and posters. The formal guidance stipulates that councils should use these powers in the first

instance so that they can claim the costs of removal from the perpetrators and pursue offenders. Reflecting the Department for Communities’ policy responsibility for this area, this legislation was transferred from the former Department of the Environment to the Department for Communities under the Departments (Transfer of Functions) Order (NI) 2016 (Schedule 5, Part 1).