One of the everyday frustrations we all encounter is the endless wait in a traffic queue at the site of roadworks, only to drive past a coned-off pit with no sign of workers in sight. The frequency and disruption of roadworks have become an issue not just of inconvenience but of inefficiency, impacting local communities and the economy. Indeed, my home county of Essex was infamously dubbed “the most dug-up county in Britain”, where roadworks reached over 77,000 instances in the 2021-22 financial year. This statistic, sourced from FOI data, reveals the depth of the issue but also underscores the lack of any real urgency to finish the job once the road is dug up.
That’s why, I recently reintroduced my Roadworks (Regulation) Bill, under the banner of the “Can the Cones” campaign, with the goal of tackling prolonged and mismanaged roadworks head-on. My Bill outlines three key reforms aimed at making a meaningful difference.
Firstly, the Bill will give local highways authorities, much stronger powers to control the granting of permits to anyone who wanted to dig up the highway network. Currently, local highways authorities—like Essex County Council—have limited power when it comes to issuing permits for roadworks. They can only deny permits on safety grounds, which means that, in practice, their ability to prevent disruption is constrained. If work is deemed an emergency, their power to refuse permits diminishes even further. My proposed Bill would change that by allowing authorities to deny permits if a roadwork project is likely to cause “unacceptable disruption” and to impose strict deadlines and conditions. This reform would grant councils more leverage to prevent utility companies and developers from routinely overrunning their timeframes, addressing the root cause of extended disruptions.
Secondly, It would mandate highway authorities to take all practicable steps to “deconflict” roadworks in their areas, to prevent multiple works in the same neighbourhood from leading to near gridlock. Currently, under Section 59 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, local authorities must “use their best endeavours” to coordinate roadworks to minimise disruptions. However, this mandate lacks sufficient clarity, and many local authorities still fail to coordinate effectively, allowing overlapping projects to gridlock neighbourhoods.
To address this, the Bill mandates local authorities to “deconflict” roadworks, especially during peak hours, and imposes stricter procedures for issuing permits. These changes would prevent the same stretch of road from being dug up repeatedly by different companies, a common frustration among drivers. By enhancing oversight and requiring a more “joined-up” approach, we can streamline projects and reduce unnecessary delays.
The final key component of the Bill focuses Increasing Fines for Overrunning Roadworks and on holding companies accountable when they fail to meet deadlines. Under existing rules, authorities can fine utility companies for “unreasonably prolonged” roadworks, with fines ranging from £5,000 to £10,000 per day for severe cases on traffic-sensitive roads. Yet, these fines have not been adjusted since 2012 and remain insufficient as a deterrent for major corporations who can absorb them as a minor business expense.
To truly discourage overruns, my Bill proposes to increase fines substantially, imposing penalties that reflect inflation and the scope of disruption. For persistent offenders, fines could reach up to 10% of their annual corporate turnover, ensuring that even the largest companies are incentivized to complete projects on time. Such a penalty would be a wake-up call to companies who currently treat overruns as a cost of doing business rather than as an exceptional failure.
The frustrations surrounding roadworks are non-partisan. They are shared by constituents across party lines who have endured the impact of mismanaged projects on their daily lives. I am encouraged by the cross-party support this Bill has attracted, and I am hopeful that the Roads Minister and others in Government recognize the value in addressing these issues, through either primary legislation or enhanced guidance to local authorities.
While I am realistic about the limitations of a Ten-Minute Rule Bill making it onto the Statute Book, I am hopeful that with enough support, we can bring greater urgency, accountability, and oversight to roadworks. For my constituents in Rayleigh and Wickford, I pledged to tackle the roadwork frustrations that have plagued Essex for years and this Bill is part of fulfilling that promise- and I look forward to pushing for progress, towards hopefully “canning the cones”- at least where we can.
Why We Need to “Can the Cones” and Bring Urgency Back to Roadworks
