Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how his Department monitors the performance of Highways England on verge (a) maintenance and (b) litter collection.

National Highways is committed to reporting its litter performance annually to the Department and to the Highways Monitor as part of the second Road Investment Strategy performance specification.

National Highways reports the percentage of the Strategic Road Network which is predominately free of litter, refuse or detritus apart from some small items, in line with the Code of practice on litter and refuse published by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. For 2021/22 National Highways reported that 60.8% of its network met the above definition, this was an improvement from 49.2% reported for 2020/21. The performance for 2022/23 will be published later this summer.

The performance specification does not cover verge maintenance specifically. However, National Highways carry out inspection and maintenance requirements adhering to standards covered in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges.