Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made in introducing Pothole Spotter systems.

The Department for Transport announced in January 2017 that we were undertaking a new innovative trial on the way potholes are identified and managed.

The Department for Transport is working in partnership with Thurrock, York and Wiltshire councils and two private sector SME’s, Soenecs and Gaist, to undertake this trial which allows high-definition cameras to be mounted to refuse collection vehicles and by deploying innovative intelligent software will identify road surface problems before they become potholes.

The trial has now commenced in Thurrock and Wiltshire and is expected to commence shortly in York once we have finalised the programme with the council.