Deirdre Costigan
Main Page: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)Department Debates - View all Deirdre Costigan's debates with the Department for Transport
(1 day, 19 hours ago)
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Heidi Alexander
I completely understand why the hon. Gentleman raises these matters. Whether it is people travelling on the roads or businesses that are impacted by roadworks, the impacts are felt across the entirety of the UK. We have discussed these matters through the UK Roads Leadership Group, and I can tell him that a code of practice was recently published. It provides guidance for authorities on how to better co-ordinate roadworks with neighbouring authorities and utilities—by considering overnight works, for example—to minimise disruption.
Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)
The Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 allows the Northern Ireland Executive to bring in a lane rental scheme to charge contractors a daily rate for disruptive roadworks, but they have chosen not to take this position. Will the Secretary of State extol the virtues of the lane rental scheme to the Northern Ireland Executive? While she is at it, will she take the final steps to give the lane rental powers under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 to the Mayor of London, to cut traffic in Ealing Southall too?
Mr Speaker
We are struggling to stick to Northern Ireland. Pick what you can out of that, Secretary of State.