MPs push for new rules to stop disruptive street works in the UK
Local authorities should be given new powers to limit disruption and congestion caused by street works, the Transport Committee has said.
‘Street works’ refers to when utility companies dig up roads to install or repair pipes and cables for gas, water, electricity and broadband. The term is different to ‘road works’, which involves maintaining roads, such as by filling potholes.
In a report published on Thursday (3 July), the cross-party committee called for tighter controls on the use of ‘immediate’ or ‘urgent’ permits, which allow utility companies to bypass local authorities before they start, and guarantees that an excavated road will then be reinstated to a high standard.
MPs also call for the government to let all local highway authorities adopt ‘lane rental schemes’. Under these schemes, utility companies pay a charge for each day that works are carried out on a road, incentivising efficiency.
The inquiry leading up to this report heard that if roads are reinstated to a poor standard following street works, it increases the chances of cracks and potholes appearing later on, and councils being left to put things right with yet more road works.
Around 2.2 million street and road works were carried out in England between April 2023 and March 2024. Over 200 organisations have the right to dig up roads. More street works will be needed to meet government objectives on new housing developments and installing electric vehicle infrastructure.
In many cases, some level of disruption is unavoidable when street works need to be carried out to keep services running. And the disruption is felt by all road users, including HGVs, buses, emergency services and pedestrians.
But the committee heard overwhelming evidence from local authorities that the current regulatory regime leaves them ill-equipped to monitor and coordinate utility companies’ street works, or to penalise companies that behave badly.
“Street works are essential. Ageing infrastructure inevitably needs maintaining, and new cables and pipes will need laying as more housing is built across the country,” said Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury.
“But as every road user knows, street works can feel like a recurring nightmare. The complaints are all too familiar: temporary traffic lights appearing overnight on a road that was already dug up a few months ago, sites left unattended on weekends, works dragging on longer than promised, lorries diverted down roads too small for them, and disabled people often unable to negotiate their way around the site safely .
“People are often left wondering, ‘why does the council let this happen?’. I’ve also heard from site workers who too often face the wrath of the travelling public.”
Cadbury notes that the report sets out a shopping list of small changes that could make a huge difference, sharpening the teeth of the regulations that already exist while also providing incentives for utility companies to work efficiently and coordinate their work with councils.
“Upping the quality of reinstatement works will help stem the never-ending plague of potholes on local roads. Lane rental schemes should provide a financial incentive to complete works on time,” she said.
“And longer-term planning and earlier notification should help councils prevent the infuriating occurrence of multiple roads being closed in one locality, or the same road being dug up multiple times in one year.”
