Lord Davies of Oldham
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Roads: Roadworks
Lord Davies of Oldham Excerpts(11 years, 12 months ago)
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Earl Attlee
My Lords, I am not convinced that there is the problem that the noble Lord describes. With the permit system, the contractor has to tell the local authority when the work should be completed. If it is not completed on time, the local authority can impose overrun charges. However, I will take this up with my officials and make sure that there is not an unresolved problem.
Lord Davies of Oldham
My Lords, something is wrong in the state of Denmark and on the roads of Britain, too. The noble Earl has identified the virtues of the legislation passed in 1999 and 2004. Utilities are meant to notify, and to be subject to penalties, if they do not complete the work in time. However, statistics show that road congestion due to roadworks is costing £2 billion a year. What on earth is going wrong with enforcement in this area?