Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what threshold needs to be met by utility companies to start emergency roadworks without a permit under highway authority permit schemes.

Emergency works are defined in legislation as works needed to deal with dangers to life and property and so must be carried out urgently. For these, and other urgent works needed to restore customer connections or deal with leaks, permits must be submitted to the relevant highway authority within two hours of works starting on site. The authority can assess these permits and request works are completed by a particular time.