Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to encourage local authorities to increase their use of artificial intelligence to identify the presence of potholes.

In England, local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. To ensure they fulfil those duties, all local highway authorities have an inspection policy in place for their highway network.

Aside from the current requirement to provide the Department with road condition data obtained using SCANNER (Surface Condition Assessment for the Nationals Network of Roads), the Department does not prescribe how other highway inspections are undertaken but encourages local authorities to consider new technologies to help them manage and maintain their respective networks. Many local authorities are taking advantage of processes and systems that utilise artificial intelligence as part of their inspection regime.