To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for an update on her Department's new Road Maintenance Strategy.

I fully recognise the importance of road network and vital role it plays in connecting our people and communities as well as supporting the wider economy.

For many years my Department has operated with a constrained maintenance budget due to underfunding and austerity by the British Government, and this has resulted in an under-investment in our infrastructure and a deterioration in the condition of our roads.

That is why I have asked my officials to develop a new approach to road maintenance. We will focus on delivering higher-quality repairs instead of spreading resources too thinly, ensuring a more reliable and safer road network where we intervene. It will be data driven and supported by sound engineering judgement and address the problem in a meaningful and sustainable manner.

My officials are finalising work on a draft road maintenance strategy which I will then share in the coming weeks.

Public finances are limited, and we have a lot to do to make up for years of austerity and underfunding but I am committed to ensuring that people are at the heart of funding decisions, and that we do all that we can to be efficient and effective in the delivery of public services.