Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of restoring the hard shoulder on the M6 motorway between junction 13 and junction 15.

On 16 April 2023, the Government announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, recognising the lack of confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures. This means no new smart motorways will be built.

We are focused on investing £900m to add further safety improvements to existing smart motorways, including constructing 150 extra emergency areas – so that people can continue to get around easily and with increased confidence.

Any reduction in capacity on our motorways, the safest roads in the country, could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury by forcing them onto roads that are less safe. Restoring the hard shoulder while maintaining capacity would be hugely disruptive and come at enormous cost.