Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the co-operation between highway authorities and statutory service providers who need to dig up the highway and footway to maintain, repair and replace their services.

The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the co-operation between highway authorities and statutory undertakers.

However, section 59 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 places a duty on local highway authorities to co-ordinate works on the highway and section 60 provides a mirror duty on statutory undertakers to co-operate with them in that role.

Additionally the Traffic Management Act 2004 introduced the Network Management Duty which requires local authorities to manage their networks with a view to making the most effective use of them. The 2004 Act also introduced permit schemes, which enable highway authorities to have a more proactive role in the management of their road networks.