These will come into force on 1 April and allow highway authorities to levy charges on utilities, including telecommunications companies, who fail to complete street works by an agreed deadline. The lane rental powers are being kept in reserve at this stage. However, we will activate them if it becomes clear that the section 74 powers have failed to reduce sufficiently the disruption which works cause to road users. We have also made it clear that we are prepared to introduce further measures, including revisiting other provisions of the 1991 Act. To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many licences have been withdrawn from bus companies by bus vehicle inspectors in each of the last three years.
All figures relate to Great Britain.
The majority of these stops were made outside the peak hours. LUL have also informed me that there have been three additional periods, two in the morning peak and one between 8pm and 10pm when Piccadilly Line trains have stopped but the actual number of trains that have stopped during each period has not been recorded for those occasions. As was made clear in the Answer referred to in the Question, these differences result from London Underground's adoption of the accounting standard Financial Reporting Standard 15, which governs the treatment of tangible fixed assets. The underlying figures are unchanged. This ensures that motorists who take the advice to have a break from driving do so at a motorway service area, where they can park safely.