Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Live Labs 2 programme.

The Live Labs 2 programme is supported by a built‑in monitoring and evaluation period that runs beyond the programme’s delivery phase, which is yet to conclude.

Initial results published by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) already demonstrate tangible progress, including East Riding’s award‑winning deployment of AI‑based video analytics to inform low‑carbon lighting strategies, and early findings from the Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads, which has secured national recognition for its innovations in low‑carbon materials and asset management.

The Department has recently confirmed the extension of the Live Labs 2 programme for an additional year. This extension is to support wider uptake of project findings across local highway authorities, particularly in relation to innovative, low-carbon maintenance methods.