Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring utility companies to coordinate the digging up of roads and pavements.

My Department issues statutory guidance in the form of the Co-ordination Code of Practice as we know that effective planning and coordination of works can reduce congestion and impacts of works on local communities. Highway authorities have a duty to co-ordinate all works, including their own, and they are responsible for managing street works in their area.