Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he takes to ensure that statutory undertakers carrying out emergency works give notice to street authorities as required under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Failure by statutory undertakers to notify the highway authority when they carry out emergency works under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA) is an offence. The authority concerned may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice, or the authority may initiate a prosecution against the undertaker for the offence.

If the authority is a permitting authority under the Traffic Management Act 2004, section 57 of NRSWA is dis-applied, and is replaced with an offence of undertaking works without a required permit, which the authority may also deal with by Fixed Penalty, or may initiate a prosecution for the offence.

These offences are all dealt with by the appropriate highway authority at a local level.