Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using road surface toppings in England identical or similar in composition to those being used on the strategic road network in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

The specification for road surface toppings used in the whole of the UK is defined in the Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW) and Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB), both these documents are owned and manged by National Highways. This includes general content (used by all organisations) and national specific content for National Highways, Transport Scotland, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure. National specific content is included for asphalt surfacing materials based on local requirements linked to types of road, traffic levels, environmental factors (such as weather) and noise. These local requirements are not consistent across and between the road authorities; therefore, each organisation has different ranges of options.