Kramer under pressure over DfT's backtrack on Traffic Regulation Order red-tape

Local transport minister Baroness Kramer is under pressure to remove the requirement for local authorities to publish roadworks information in local newspapers.

Kramer's predecessor Norman Baker backtracked from proposals to axe the need to advertise proposed Traffic Regulation Orders following lobbying from the newspaper industry.

ELGIN says that its new traffic management application to create, edit and publish temporary TROs in minutes instead of an average of nine hours will save each council tens of thousands of pounds but far more would be saved if the process of publishing the orders could be completed using the app. Keith Davenport, Warwickshire traffic manager and chair of ELGIN's national user group, welcomed the app giving authorities this ability to instantly publish temporary TROs onto their websites.

ELGIN says the app would allow the information to be published where it is most effective, rendering the publishing of adverts in newspapers a "redundant," unnecessary further effort that costs authorities £21m a year, money that could be used to improve local roads or other services.

It said former local transport minister Norman Baker "rejected the recommendations of his own officials and bowed to the pressure of newspaper lobbyists". The DfT regulatory impact assessment concluded that "newspapers are no longer always the most effective or best value way" of publishing.