Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of pausing all work on forthcoming smart motorway projects pending the Government’s response to the Transport Committee's report entitled Rollout and safety of smart motorways.

The Transport Select Committee’s (TSC) report Rollout and safety of smart motorways was published on 2 November 2021, and the Department has since been considering its recommendations in detail. The Government will be providing a formal response to the Committee meeting its deadline of 10 January 2022. The Secretary of State’s focus since assuming office has been to ensure that smart motorways are as safe as they can be, and I can assure the Honourable Member that we are taking the Transport Committee’s recommendations seriously.