Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the authority that public utility companies have to obstruct the highway to carry out repairs and installations.

A range of legislation, statutory and other guidance applies to utility companies who carry out street works on the local road network to install, maintain and repair the infrastructure on which we all rely. These works are vital but that does not mean they should take longer than they should. My department constantly reviews the legal framework to reduce the impact works have on congestion and is taking forward a number of projects to modernise the regime.