Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the use of glyphosate in urban areas on (a) human health and (b) the environment.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A pesticide may only be authorised and placed on the GB market once the active substance it contains has been approved. This happens following a thorough risk assessment carried out by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive. Glyphosate is currently approved as an active substance for use in pesticide products in GB.
Glyphosate was reviewed in 2016 (when the UK was an EU Member State). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose any risks to human health and the environment. When the GB approval of glyphosate is next reviewed, we will again consider our position based on the legal requirements and a careful scientific assessment of the evidence and risks. The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.
It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations without harming people or the environment. There is a legal requirement to minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public.
We want to address some of the key barriers to uptake of integrated pest management in the amenity sector and reduce reliance on pesticides, whilst recognising the continuing role pesticides will play, for example, in making sure public highways are accessible and safe.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make his policy to reinstate a hard shoulder on all smart motorways.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 16 April 2023, the Government announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled, recognising the lack of confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures. This means no new smart motorways will be built.
We are focused on investing £900m to add further safety improvements to existing smart motorways, including constructing over 150 extra emergency areas – so that people can continue to get around easily and with increased confidence.
Restoring the hard shoulder while maintaining capacity would be hugely disruptive, both for road users and local communities, and come at a significant financial cost, and a potential impact on the overall safety of the road network.
Any reduction in capacity on our Strategic Road Network could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury by forcing them on to less safe local roads.
Asked by: Jeremy Quin (Conservative - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve road safety.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Although by global standards, roads in the UK are very safe, every road death and injury is a tragedy for the families involved and we are working on a number of measures to keep our roads and road users safe. This Government has updated The Highway Code to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses, tightened up the law to target the most dangerous drivers and closed the loophole in the offence of driving while using a mobile.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road traffic accidents have occurred as a result of smart motorway technology since 2019.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The latest safety data and assessment can be found in National Highways’ Third Year Progress Report, which was published in December 2023: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/smart-motorways-evidence-stocktake/.
Overall, the data shows that in terms of serious or fatal casualties, smart motorways are the safest roads on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).
National Highways has undertaken contributory factor analysis to help further understand which factors which lead to collisions on the SRN. This analysis can be found in the above report.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has issued to local highways authorities on the criteria for the implementation of new road safety measures; and what flexibility those authorities have to act in response to multiple fatal incidents.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local authorities have a range of road safety measures available to them and they are best placed to make decisions on implementation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues on best practice in tackling potholes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To prevent potholes and other defects from forming in the first place, well-planned maintenance is vital, which is why the Department advocates a risk-based, whole life-cycle asset management approach to all aspects of the local highway network. There are various key bits of guidance that the Department recommends to local highway authorities, including a 2016 Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure, produced by the UK Roads Leadership Group and available via the website of the Chartered Institute for Highways and Transportation.
Other guidance includes the 2019 “Potholes: a repair guide” on which the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT), and which is on the ADEPT website. This recommends that local highway authorities should wherever possible make permanent rather than temporary repairs, with temporary repairs only appropriate in emergency circumstances or where safety cannot be managed using alternative approaches.
To help local highway authorities to understand the impacts of the changing climate on local highway networks, the Department has published on gov.uk an independent report on the lessons learned from extreme weather-related emergencies over the period 2015 to 2020.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the road network is safe for (a) cyclists and (b) cars in the context of trends in the number of potholes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the 1980 Highway Act, it is the responsibility of the local highway authority to maintain and manage the highway network that it is responsible for.
The Government allocates funding to local highways authorities so that they can most effectively spend it on maintaining and improving their respective network for all road users, based upon their local knowledge, circumstances and priorities. The Government has recently announced an £8.3 billion funding uplift for the resurfacing of local roads over the period 2023/24 to 2033/34, which will allow local authorities to make their roads smoother and safer for cyclists and drivers alike.
To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, in March 2019 the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport to publish Potholes: a repair guide. The Government has also worked with the UK Roads Leadership Group’s Footway & Cycletrack Management Group to produce guidance on maintaining assets for cycleways and footways. This can be found on the CIHT website.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government supports local authorities in their provision of (a) lollipop men and women and (b) other road safety measures for children.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The provision of the school crossing patrol service is a matter for the local authority. Legislation gives local authorities the power to make arrangements for the patrolling of places where children cross roads, on their way to or from school, but does not impose a duty on them to do so.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether offenders under the Ministry of Justice’s community payback project scheme have been used to remove litter from (a) A roads, (b) B roads and (c) motorways.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways worked with the National Probation Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, on the Community Payback Project and provided opportunities for litter picking at motorway service areas. Trial sites included Gloucester, Hartshead Moor, Chester and Leicester Forest East.
For health and safety reasons, National Highways is unable to facilitate offenders removing litter from Motorways or All-Purpose Trunk Roads.
B roads are a matter for each individual local authority and so this data is not held by the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the safety of (a) horses and (b) horse riders on roads.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the safety of horse riders and other vulnerable road users very seriously and is committed to reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on England’s roads.
Following Parliamentary approval, The Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.