Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending legislation to enable local transport authorities to divert traffic onto national highways where (a) local and (b) network conditions make it (i) necessary and (ii) appropriate.

The Department has made no such assessment. Local authorities are responsible for managing traffic on their networks, and National Highways for managing the Strategic Road Network of motorways and trunk roads. Both are subject to the Network Management Duty under the Traffic Management Act 2004, which requires them to manage their road network with a view to achieving ‘expeditious movement’ of all traffic, and facilitating expeditious movement of traffic on a neighbouring authority’s network.

It is for local authorities and National Highways to work together to agree appropriate diversion routes and circumstances under which these may be required.