§ Viscount Simonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many times the Highways Agency have (a) been contracted to sweep and (b) swept the hard shoulder of each motorway in the United Kingdom in each of the five years and in the current year. [HL2076]
§ Baroness HaymanI have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency to write to my noble friend.
71WALetter to Viscount Simon from the Director of Network and Customer Services of the Highways Agency, Mr. P. Nutt, dated 8 June 1998.
The Minister for Roads, Lady Hayman, has asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency to reply to your recent parliamentary questions about the sweeping of motorway hard shoulders. I am writing on his behalf.
The Highways Agency is only responsible for the trunk roads and motorways in England. The requirements for sweeping and cleaning of roads (including motorway hard shoulders) are dictated by the Environmental Protection Act 1990: Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. The code defines standards of cleanliness and requires that an area be returned to a set cleanliness standard within a specified time of it falling to a lower standard. It does not require roads to be cleaned at regular frequencies.
In England, the Highways Agency contracts with maintaining agents and contractors for the routine maintenance of motorways, including the sweeping and cleaning of motorway hard shoulders. Information from regular safety inspections and safety patrols on our motorways is used to programme sweeping and cleaning, as need dictates. The aim is to achieve the overall cleanliness standard set in the code and to target "black spot" locations which result from factors such as debris from vehicles or wind blown litter.
I regret that, as sweeping of hard shoulders is on an "as needs" basis, information on how many times the hard shoulder of each motorway in England has been swept in each of the past five years, and even in the current year, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.