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Tougher penalties for road works disruption - Under embargo until 0001 Monday 01 March 2010
Irresponsible firms who allow their road works to overrun will face penalties of up to £25,000 a day - a tenfold increase on the current £2,500 maximum daily charge - under plans published today by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan.
The Government also set out proposals for a tougher inspection regime giving local councils more powers to charge utility companies for inspecting road works in their streets.
Sadiq Khan said:
"These new measures show just how serious the Government is about tackling problem road works which cost our economy £4.2 billion each year.
"There is no excuse for those companies who allow their works to drag on for longer than they should, causing inconvenience and frustration for the travelling public. The new charges and tougher inspection regime will provide a strong incentive for utilities to finish works on time or pay for the disruption they cause.”
The proposals are intended to provide utility companies with a strong incentive to finish works on time. Utility firms will not be permitted to pass the cost of these charges on to their customers.
The new inspection regime will mean that utility firms that consistently fail to keep their sites safe, or fail to replace the road surface properly, could be required to pay for additional inspections by local councils.
Today's announcement forms part of the Department for Transport's street works action plan published in December 2009. The action plan aims to reduce the disruption caused by street works and today's consultations will be followed shortly by announcements on improving safety at road works sites by updating an existing Safety Code of Practice.
The consultations on increasing overrun charges and the new inspections regime can be found here: www.dft.gov.uk/consultations.
Notes to Editors
Today’s announcements deliver two key commitments made in the Department for Transport’s Street Works Action Plan, published in December 2009.
Street works overrun charges can be levied by councils where works continue for longer than the period originally notified by the utility company or other undertaker responsible for the works.
The maximum daily overrun charges are set out in Regulations. The proposed increases in maximum charges would apply specifically to the busiest “traffic-sensitive” streets, which is where the disruption caused by street works is most costly. Streets can be designated as 'traffic-sensitive' by the local authority where one or more of a published set of criteria are met.
Money raised from overrun charges is retained by the highway authority. Any surplus income, after administration costs, must be spent on improving local transport.
Councils can already charge for carrying out certain inspections, including inspections of site safety ('Category A' inspections) and the quality of reinstatement of the highway ('Category B' and 'Category C' inspections) at a randomly-selected sample of works sites.
Under the new proposals, a street works undertaker who fails to meet the required standard in more than 10% of inspections in one or more of Categories A to C within the area of a particular street authority could be subject to a more intensive performance monitoring regime.
Under such a regime, the authority could charge for extra inspections in the Category or Categories where the undertaker had failed to meet the required standard. The performance monitoring period would initially be 12 weeks, but could be extended for further 4-week periods until the undertaker achieves a 90% pass-rate over the most recent 12 weeks of monitoring.
The proposals on overrun charges and inspections would apply throughout England (including London).
Press Enquiries: 020 7944 3066 Out of Hours: 020 7944 4292 Public Enquiries: 0300 330 3000 Department for Transport Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
Contacts:
Roads ..
Phone: 020 7944 3066
nds.dft@coi.gsi.gov.uk
