Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance and protocols she publishes to ensure full co-operation on road works and other matters between neighbouring counties.

Norman Baker MP; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State: The Traffic Management Act 2004 introduced a Network Management Duty, which is the duty of a local traffic authority to manage their road network with a view to securing the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority's road network, and facilitating the expeditious movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority is the traffic authority.

The Secretary of State's Network Management Duty Guidance published in November 2004 includes techniques in network management aimed at providing local authorities with a good practice approach to performing the Network Management Duty. The Guidance states that local authorities should have in place systems to record and co-ordinate both planned utility works and planned road works, and that access to this information should be given to utilities, contractors and adjoining authorities so that they can review their activities in light of the activity of others.

A new duty to co-operate was introduced through the Localism Act 2011. This requires local planning authorities, county councils, and other public bodies to work together constructively when they are planning for strategic cross boundary matters, such as transport infrastructure, in their local plans. The National Planning Policy Framework, published in March, sets out the strategic priorities that should be addressed by local planning authorities in their local plans and on which cooperation is expected.