Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of free-flow technology on the Severn Bridge.

The Government is considering the future of tolling arrangements at the Severn Crossing once the concession ends. I expect to consider the merits of free-flow technology in this context, although no options have yet been developed. To help understand whether this may be worth pursuing, my Department is attempting to estimate the potential traffic benefit of removing the barriers, though this work is not yet complete.