Plans to axe red
tape for councils wanting to put in place schemes to tackle
disruptive road works were published today by Regional and Local
Transport Minister Norman Baker.
Street works permit schemes give councils more power to
coordinate works and once in place both utility companies and
local authorities must abide by strict conditions including time
limits, coordination or the amount of road space to be left
available to road users. Anyone who breaks the terms of their
permit or works without a permit could be prosecuted and face a
fine of up to £5,000.
At the moment, councils wanting to operate a permit scheme need
approval from the Department for Transport. The proposals put
forward today would remove that requirement and give councils more
flexibility in putting the schemes in place.
Norman Baker said:
"Councils should be spending their time improving the
lives of their local residents not being bogged down by
unnecessary bureaucracy. That is why I am proposing that local
councils should be able to put in place permit schemes to improve
the co-ordination of works on their roads without needing to get
approval from central government.
"I hope that this will encourage more councils to
develop permit schemes and make use of them to help reduce
disruption and frustration for the travelling public."
Under the plans, councils will still need to comply with the law
on the penalties and requirements they can impose on utility
companies when operating a permit scheme.
The consultation runs until 13 th April and can be found here:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/dft-2012-02/.
Notes to Editors
1. Street works permit schemes are currently in place in Kent,
London and Northamptonshire. 2. The Secretary of State approved a
permit scheme for St Helens in December 2011 and has received
permit schemes applications submitted from East of England and
Greater Manchester. 3. A council running a permit scheme is able
to charge companies for providing a permit although any charge
should cover the costs of administering the permit scheme and
should not result in a surplus. It is a criminal offence to work
without a permit. The maximum fine will be £5,000. It is also an
offence to not meet a permit condition, for which the maximum fine
is £2,500. Fixed Penalty Notices, as an alternative enforcement
mechanism, can instead be given for working without a permit or
not meeting a permit condition. 4. Local councils are responsible
for designing and consulting on their own scheme proposals. Under
current legislation, permit schemes in England can be implemented
only with the approval of the Secretary of State. Councils in
England have been able to apply to the Department for Transport to
run their own road works permit schemes since the relevant
Regulations came into force in April 2008. The Department for
Transport's business plan sets out the intention to end
the need for central government approval of individual local
authorities' permit schemes in 2012. Legislative
proposals to do this will require Parliamentary approval. Under
the proposals the position in Wales would remain the same. Press
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Contacts:
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Phone: DfT Press Office 020 7944 3066
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