Commentary on Sections Part 1: Traffic Officers.Background Sections 1 & 2: Designation of traffic officers
21.These sections empower the Secretary of State (in England) and the National Assembly for Wales (in Wales), to designate individuals to act as traffic officers or to authorise another to do so. Traffic officers would thus either be employed directly by the appropriate national authority or they would be employed by external service providers. During the early years of operating a traffic officer service in England it is expected that all traffic officers will be designated by the Secretary of State and will be employees of the Highways Agency. In the longer term there is the option to employ contractors to provide the traffic officers.
22.Traffic officers’ duties must be related to the management of traffic on roads for which the appropriate national authority is the traffic authority, or the performance of any of the authorities’ other functions as highway or traffic authority for trunk roads. Thus for example, in addition to traffic management, they would be able to carry out incidental or supportive tasks such as monitoring the condition of the road and reporting on any defects or problems.