In January 2022 this Government updated The Highway Code to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses. Changes aim to initiate a positive shift in road user behaviour by making road users aware of their responsibility to use roads safely and reduce the danger they may pose to others.

The fight against potholes is much like our own fight to stay healthy: if we do nothing about it, we deteriorate faster. I therefore thank the Minister for the additional £200 million allocated to local authorities for pothole repairs. Will he join me in praising Dudley Council’s new approach of moving away from traditional, reactive quick wins towards a proactive, high-quality structural maintenance service?

Nottinghamshire submitted a levelling-up fund bid for a new Toton link road, but narrowly missed out. The project is desperately

needed to ease congestion and unlock the huge potential in my constituency of Broxtowe and our wider county. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss this £40 million, ready-to-go project, especially as the east midlands has the lowest amount per head spent per year on transport?

The Government recognises the importance of the A30 as a key strategic route into and through Cornwall. Widening of the 2.8-mile section between Temple and Higher Carblake was completed in 2017 as part of RIS1. We are currently upgrading the A30 into a dual carriageway north of Truro between Chiverton and Carland Cross, as part of RIS2. This £330 million scheme will mean the A30 will be a continuous dual carriageway from the M5 to Camborne. National Highways is assessing the viability of options for improvements to the A30 from Camborne to Penzance. This work, which is at an early stage, will inform possible enhancements as part of future Road Investment Strategies beyond 2030.

In England, local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. To ensure they fulfil those duties, all local highway authorities have an inspection policy in place for their highway network.

Aside from the current requirement to provide the Department with road condition data obtained using SCANNER (Surface Condition Assessment for the Nationals Network of Roads), the Department does not prescribe how other highway inspections are undertaken but encourages local authorities to consider new technologies to help them manage and maintain their respective networks. Many local authorities are taking advantage of processes and systems that utilise artificial intelligence as part of their inspection regime.

The local council has responsibility for making decisions about local roads, based on its local knowledge and taking into account local needs.

The Department for Transport provides guidance to traffic authorities on various traffic management measures.

Portsmouth council was allocated £3.65million in 2022/23 for highways maintenance and small transport projects, which help maintain the overall road environment. Portsmouth council was additionally awarded £1.3million from the Safer Roads Fund in 2022/23.

Local speed limits are a matter for local authorities, who have the power to set their speed limits.

While the government supports 20mph limits in the right places, we do not support them being set indiscriminately on all roads without due regard to the safety case and local support. We plan to review the current guidance to English authorities to ensure consistency on setting 20mph speed limits and to be clear about the factors that local authorities should consider when considering new 20mph schemes.

The Department intends to publish funding allocations for individual local highway authorities shortly, which will make clear how much of the £8.3 billion uplift will be available in future years for maintenance of the highway network.

The Government is technology neutral on the technology best suited to decarbonise UK’s road freight, but understands that recharging and refuelling infrastructure is key to a successful transition.

The Department is working with industry stakeholders to develop a zero emission HGV infrastructure strategy for publication in early 2024. In parallel, the Department is investing £200m into zero emission HGV and infrastructure demonstrators to provide the road freight industry with the evidence needed to make investment decisions and have the confidence to transition to zero emissions technologies sooner. Winners of the competition will be announced imminently.

The management of street lighting in England is the responsibility of local highway authorities.

The Department for Transport encourages local authorities to consider best practice, such as being sympathetic to heritage areas, when making decisions about lighting on their networks. The Street Furniture Selection Guide, produced by Historic England, gives some information on heritage lighting and factors to be considered when choosing the street lighting luminaire and column where appropriate.

Responsibility for managing London's road network is shared between Transport for London, National Highways and the London boroughs.

At a national level, the Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Key changes include the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and guidance on safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders. The changes will lead to improvements in road safety as they encourage more mutual respect and consideration for all road users.

Responsibility for managing London's road network is shared between Transport for London, National Highways and the London boroughs.

At a national level, the Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Key changes include the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and guidance on safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders. The changes will lead to improvements in road safety as they encourage more mutual respect and consideration for all road users.

The Secretary of State for Transport has regular discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on a range of topics, including transport and the economy.

The plans for maintaining and renewing the Strategic Road Network (SRN) are set as part of a five-year Road Investment Strategy and are aimed at sustaining the availability, safety, performance, operation, reliability, and longevity of the SRN’s physical assets to deliver value to road users.

National Highways are responsible for the management of the Strategic Road Network which includes motorways and some major A roads, and their expenditure on Maintenance and Renewals is published online in its annual report and accounts:

https://nationalhighways.co.uk/media/0k1mwvsp/nh_ar23_interactive.pdf.

This reflects that in the financial year 2022/23 National Highways spent £240 million on maintenance of the SRN and £908 million on renewals (replacement or refurbishment of assets as they reach the end of their service life).

The Annual Report and Accounts also outlines that NH oversees 4,541 miles of road across its network. On average more is spent on maintaining each mile of the SRN compared to each mile of the local road network, which reflects the considerably higher traffic volumes carried.

On the local road network, local authority expenditure data is collected by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). Total expenditure data is only available up until 2021/22, where total maintenance expenditure for local authority roads was £4.168 billion.

Utility street works are needed to install and update the vital infrastructure on which we all rely, including for broadband and to install EV chargepoints. Permits are needed from the relevant highway authority before works begin on local roads. Authorities can impose charges of up to £10,000 per day for works that overrun the period allowed by the permit during weekdays, which reflect the costs of congestion caused by overrunning works.

Authorities are also able to introduce and operate lane rental schemes. As part of these, utility companies may need to pay charges of up to £2,500 per day for works on the busiest roads at the busiest times, unless they move the works to less busy roads or carry them out at less busy times.

The government is providing £6.5bn during the second road investment strategy (2020-2025) to National Highways for the operation and maintenance of the Strategic Road Network (SRN). National Highways are required to report against a Key Performance Indicator which measures the overall road surface condition of the SRN, through its monitoring of this performance indicator National Highways can focus its efforts on areas most in need and priority repairs.

To undertake road repairs National Highways have to part or fully close the road. National Highways have to weigh up the impact of closing the road on users against the benefit of carrying out the repairs as quickly as possible. Safety of the workforce and road users and the needs of neighbouring communities are some of the key factors considered when determining traffic management measures.

For local roads, between 2020/21 – 2024/25 the Government is providing over £5.5 billion to eligible local highways authorities in England, outside of London and the Mayoral Combined Authorities to help carry out maintenance of the highway. This funding is not ringfenced, enabling local authorities to spend flexibly according to local needs and priorities. Maintenance of the local highway network is the responsibility of the local authority.

Highway authorities are also able to introduce and operate lane rental schemes. As part of these, utility companies may need to pay charges of up to £2,500 per day for works on the busiest roads at the busiest times, unless they move the works to less busy roads or carry them out at less busy times.

The Department keeps the process of setting speed limits under review, but is not currently considering any specific changes.

Local authorities are generally best placed to determine speed limits on the roads for which they are responsible, and the Government has no plans to change this.

The Department for Transport issues guidance designed to ensure speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing flexibility to deal with local needs and conditions.

There are considerable benefits to providing local highway authorities with multi-year funding certainty. This helps them enter into long-term arrangements with contractors and the supply chain as well as to carry out more planned and proactive maintenance, thus delivering better value for money for the taxpayer.

The Department is mid-way through the three-year funding settlement for local highway maintenance that was announced in 2021. This comprises approximately £915 million of capital funding per year for local highways maintenance between 2022/23 and 2024/25 for eligible local highway authorities across England outside of London and the Mayoral Combined Authorities. The Mayoral Combined Authorities which are in receipt of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) already have five-year funding settlements.

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. During the past ten financial years the Department has provided over £11.9 billion to local highway authorities across England outside of London for highway maintenance. This includes formula funding from the Highways Maintenance Block, Pothole Action Fund (2016/17 – 2020/21), Potholes Fund (2020/21-2024/25) and the Wet Weather/Resilience fund.

* Financial years also include grant funding to local authorities through the Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund, a competitive funding element top-sliced from the Highways Maintenance Block.^[1]

** This includes the funding that is now being paid as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS).

^[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-highways-maintenance-challenge-fund-schemes