Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the reputational impact on England of poor highways maintenance and waste clearance when experienced by visitors arriving from abroad.

On highway maintenance, the Department has committed National Highways to a set of performance targets on how it delivers a well maintained and resilient Strategic Road Network, which is made up of motorways and principal A-roads in England.

On the local road network, local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, as amended, to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network are in need of repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

On waste clearance, Government’s Litter Strategy for England sets out a range of measures to reduce littering within a generation and sits alongside National Highways’ Litter Strategy which is informed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Code of practise on litter and refuse. It commits the organisation to improve the delivery and responsiveness of waste clearance activity as well as partnership working.

Street cleaning and litter picking on the local road network is covered by revenue funding provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to relevant Local Authorities.

The Government is aware of the importance of having high standards of maintenance and clearance of our highways can have on those travelling on our roads.

The Government also gains insight of road users' views via the Strategic Roads User Survey and has set a set of performance metrics that National Highways is committed to, to track its performance in maintaining and clearing the Strategic Road Network.

The Government has not given any specific consideration to France’s approach to highways maintenance and waste clearance by comparison with the UK.