Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to ensure that at least 50 per cent of the revenue from the lane rental scheme is reinvested in (a) road resurfacing and (b) pothole repairs.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Charges for works that overrun are already set at up to £10,000 per day. The Government announced in December that we will apply overrun charges to weekends and bank holidays. We also announced that local authorities operating lane rental schemes will be required to spend 50% of surplus lane rental charges on highway maintenance, The regulations implementing these changes will be laid later in 2025. They will also double the level of fixed penalty notices available for some street works offences.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to increase the level of overrun charges for utility companies responsible for delayed road repairs.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Charges for works that overrun are already set at up to £10,000 per day. The Government announced in December that we will apply overrun charges to weekends and bank holidays. We also announced that local authorities operating lane rental schemes will be required to spend 50% of surplus lane rental charges on highway maintenance, The regulations implementing these changes will be laid later in 2025. They will also double the level of fixed penalty notices available for some street works offences.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to introduce overrun charges for utility companies undertaking road repairs on weekends and bank holidays.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Charges for works that overrun are already set at up to £10,000 per day. The Government announced in December that we will apply overrun charges to weekends and bank holidays. We also announced that local authorities operating lane rental schemes will be required to spend 50% of surplus lane rental charges on highway maintenance, The regulations implementing these changes will be laid later in 2025. They will also double the level of fixed penalty notices available for some street works offences.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to increase local authorities' powers to inspect roads that have temporarily been reinstated by utility companies conducting roadworks more frequently.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities already have powers to inspect both temporary and permanent reinstatements for compliance with the DfT's technical standards (the specification for the reinstatement of openings in the highway). Since 2023, a performance-based inspections regime has been in place which means those companies who fail inspections are inspected more than those who comply. As companies pay for inspections, there is also a strong financial incentive for them to meet standards.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to reduce the time within which utility companies conducting roadworks must ensure that roads are permanently repaired to six months.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Utility companies can put temporary reinstatements in place following works to re-open roads to traffic whilst, for example, waiting for specialist materials which may be specified by local authorities such as a particular type of paving stone. Permanent reinstatements must be put in place within 6 months. The DfT has no plans to change these arrangements.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to increase local authorities' powers to ensure the immediate permanent reinstation of roads by utility companies near (a) high-traffic areas, (b) hospitals, (c) schools and (d) other critical locations.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Utility companies can put temporary reinstatements in place following works to re-open roads to traffic whilst, for example, waiting for specialist materials which may be specified by local authorities such as a particular type of paving stone. Permanent reinstatements must be put in place within 6 months. The DfT has no plans to change these arrangements.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to help improve road infrastructure to respond to flooding risks in (a) Somerset and (b) the South West.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes flooding and its effects seriously, and has established a Floods Resilience Taskforce, which will enable close working between national, regional, and local government, including the devolved administrations, along with flood risk partners.
The Government is providing local authorities with an additional £500 million of funding for local highway maintenance for 2025/26 compared to 2024/25, with Somerset Council receiving £44.9 million in 2025/26 for highway maintenance. It is up to local highway authorities to determine how best to spend this funding on maintaining and protecting their roads, including making them more resilient to flooding.
The Department is also working with the UK Roads Leadership Group’s Adaptation, Biodiversity and Climate Board to produce best practice advice and guidance to local highway authorities to help them deal with the effects of climate change.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve disabled access to railway stations in rural areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway for all users, including those with a range of disabilities and in rural areas. The Department for Transport recently completed an accessibility audit of all 2,577 stations across Great Britain, including those in rural areas. This data is being used to guide how the government and rail industry can most efficiently invest through programmes such as Access for All, which has delivered step free access at more than 250 stations since 2006.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of steps to improve accessibility of train stations for disabled people.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway for all users, including those with a range of disabilities. The Department for Transport recently completed an accessibility audit of all 2,577 stations across Great Britain. This data is being used to guide how the government and rail industry can most efficiently invest through programmes such as Access for All, which has delivered step free access at more than 250 stations since 2006.