Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote and facilitate the uptake of new road repair and maintenance technology by local highway authorities in England.

The Department works closely with the highways sector to promote best practice and to encourage innovation and trialling of new technologies. In 2019, the Department provided £22.9 million for a ‘Live Labs’ innovation programme, managed by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT), as a way of encouraging innovation across the English local road network.

Based on the previous Live Labs success, the Department has this year confirmed an additional £30 million for a second round of the ADEPT Live Labs programme, with a focus on decarbonising local highways infrastructure and assets to improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of local highways maintenance and repair. This will see seven projects, grouped by four interconnected carbon-related themes, being led by local highway authorities working alongside commercial and academic partners.