Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what environmental impact assessment his Department has made of the plastic road trial in Cumbria.

The Department for Transport announced on 31 January 2019 it was allocating £22.9 million for research and trials on new surface materials for pothole repair. This includes providing £1.6 million to extend an existing trial of the use of plastic roads in Cumbria which is being taken forward by Cumbria County Council, as local highway authority.

As part of this trial, research into both the technology and the environmental impacts of using such materials will be undertaken by Gaist Ltd, the University of Nottingham, the University of Central Lancashire, the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, and the University of California, USA.