Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle pot holes.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Potholes are a menace to all road users and the Government is taking the steps to help local highway authorities improve the condition of the roads for which they are responsible, including tackling potholes.
Accordingly, the Government is providing £296 million between 2016 and 2021 to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to help repair potholes and stop them forming. This funding has recently been topped up with an additional £46 million, announced in the 2017 Budget on 22 November 2017. This funding is also in addition to just under £6 billion which the Government is providing to local highway authorities for local highway maintenance in England, outside London between 2015 and 2021.
The Department for Transport also announced in January 2017 that it is undertaking a highly innovative trial on the way potholes are identified and managed, working in partnership with Thurrock, York and Wiltshire councils and two private sector SMEs, Soenecs and Gaist. This trial allows high-definition cameras to be mounted to refuse collection vehicles and by deploying innovative intelligent software will identify road surface problems before they become potholes. The trial recently won an award for the best use of new technology in the highways sector.