To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department (a) is undertaking research projects and (b) has issued recent guidance on best practice on pothole repairs.

This Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to enabling local highway authorities to maintain and renew the local highway network.

As well as providing highway maintenance capital funding allocations to local highway authorities in England, it also funds the Transport Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG) programme, run jointly with the Connected Places Catapult, and is funding the £30 million “Live Labs” Decarbonising Roads programme, which enables local authorities to trial innovative low-carbon ways of maintaining their highway networks.

In addition to the funding that the Department provides to local highway authorities, it endorses guidance such as the UK Roads Leadership Group’s Code of Practice on Well Managed Highway Infrastructure. This recommends that local highway authorities take an integrated, risk-based approach to managing their highway infrastructure, and offers advice on all aspects of highway maintenance, including the frequency of inspections recommended for various types of structures. The Department has committed to updating this guidance and has begun scoping changes with the UKRLG.