Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the level of co-operation between local authorities and utility companies to minimise disruption to the public when undertaking work.

Under sections 59 and 60 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, highway authorities have a general duty to co-ordinate all street and road works on their networks and undertakers have a general duty to use their best endeavours to co-operate with such actions. The Traffic Management Act 2004 also places a Network Management Duty on local highway authorities to manage roads effectively to keep traffic moving.

We have not carried out a formal assessment, but although we consider that existing legislation is sufficient to enable effective co-operation to take place, it is clear that there is scope for reducing the impact on road users of works needed to deliver infrastructure and local services.

To this end we are engaged in a project that is looking to improve the way that data is collected and shared, how we can use this data to co-ordinate activities on the highway more effectively, and how the data can be used to inform the public about planned and live works.

To enable more proactive management of the local road network, the majority of highway authorities have introduced Permit Schemes, which enable the authority to stipulate conditions under which works can take place on the highway. We are currently undertaking an evaluation of permit schemes which concludes in November, and we expect the outcome to demonstrate that such schemes provide a clear reduction in works duration. We are keen for the remaining authorities to develop such schemes.

We have also published statutory guidance entitled ‘Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters’. This can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/street-works-co-ordination