Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on advances in technology to improve on current pothole patching techniques; if he will allocate funding to development of those technologies; and what steps his Deparment is taking to tackle the prevalence of potholes in Strangford constituency.

The Department works closely with highways stakeholders such as the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport and the Local Council Roads Innovation Group who regularly showcase innovative ways to fix potholes and ensure we have well maintained roads. We fund innovative new ideas including road technologies through our well-established Transport Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG) programme, and the ADEPT Live Labs programme.

Whilst roads in Northern Ireland are a devolved matter, NI is a valued member of the UK’s Road Leadership Group, which brings together the four nations of the United Kingdom so that best practice in highway maintenance can be shared across the country.