Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department has provide to (a) South Tyneside and (b) Gateshead local authorities for the repair and maintenance of potholes.

The Government has provided South Tyneside Local Highway Authority £6.567 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £0.417 million from the Pothole Action Fund to allow the repair of potholes or stop them forming in the first place.

The Government has provided Gateshead Local Highway Authority £11.478 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £0.626 million from the Pothole Action Fund.

The Department for Transport announced in January 2017 that it is undertaking an innovative trial on the way potholes are identified and managed, working in partnership with Thurrock, York and Wiltshire councils and two private sector SMEs, Soenecs and Gaist. This trial allows high-definition cameras to be mounted to refuse collection vehicles and by deploying innovative intelligent software will identify road surface problems before they become potholes. The trial recently won an award for the best use of new technology in the highways sector.

The Government announced in March 2018 that it is investing more than £900,000 in innovations using connected vehicles to help councils manage and plan maintenance works more efficiently. These trials will ultimately help to provide councils with data to enable them to repair potholes before they occur as well as to maintain their other assets more effectively as part of their asset management plans.

The Department for Transport is also providing funding to the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to work on technological and innovative improvements to future-proof the local road network.