§ Mr. WatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the legislation covering local authorities' duties of care towards the public in respect of(a) roads and (b) pavements; and if he will make a statement. [58199]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonSection 41 of the Highways Act 1980 gives highway authorities a duty to maintain those highways which are maintainable at the public expense. This duty also applies to the maintenance of footways and bridleways where these are highways maintainable at the public expense.
Section 58 of the Act gives a defence for highway authorities in actions for damage resulting from their failure to maintain a highway which is maintainable at the public expense. There is now a substantial amount of case law on what care highway authorities should exercise to secure that the highway is not dangerous to traffic. Highway authorities and their insurers are guided by this when new claims arise.
In view of the large body of case law on highway authorities duty of care, the present legislation is clear and there are no plans to introduce new legislation.