Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will regulate the use of mobile traffic lights to ensure sufficient warning is given to road users.

Neither the Department nor local authorities have powers to charge operators for using portable traffic signals. In any event, the decision as to whether to use portable traffic signals or some other form of traffic management at a particular street or road works site should be determined by reference to the guidance in our statutory code of practice Safety at Street Works and Road Works and a site-specific risk assessment. It would not be appropriate to charge operators for using portable traffic signals if they considered them to be necessary for safety.

To comply with the statutory code of practice Safety at Street Works and Road Works, operators that propose using portable traffic signals also have to obtain permission from the relevant highway authority before they are installed. The highway authority can reject such proposals if they do not consider them to be appropriate. We believe that sufficient controls are in place, and therefore have no plans to regulate the use of portable traffic signals further.