Secretary of State for Transport (): In 2019, our roads handled 88% of all passenger
travel by distance, the vast majority of it by car or van. Even
doubling rail use across the country would only reduce this
proportion to 75%, assuming that overall demand did not rise. The
roads also carry more than three-quarters of freight traffic, and
of course nearly all pedestrian, cycling, bus and coach journeys.
Continued high investment in our roads is, therefore, and will
remain, as necessary as ever to ensure the functioning of the
nation and to reduce the congestion which is a major source of
carbon. Almost half of our £27 billion programme for
England’s strategic roads, though often described as for
road-building or capacity expansion is, in fact, for renewing,
maintaining and operating the existing network or for funds to
improve safety and biodiversity, deliver active travel schemes
and tackle noise or pollution.
In the coming years, our ambitious and accelerating plans to
decarbonise all road traffic will transform roads’ impact on
greenhouse gas emissions. We have always said, however, that we
must ensure the road network meets today’s demands, not those of
the past.
In the last 18 months, fundamental changes have occurred in
commuting, shopping and business travel which, before the
pandemic, made up 30% of all road journeys by distance and a much
higher proportion at the times and places of greatest pressure.
Trends already underway in homeworking, online shopping and
videoconferencing, all of which had reduced trip rates even
before the pandemic, have dramatically increased and seem
unlikely to be fully reversed. Against that, though, must be set
the effects on road demand of the hopefully temporary move away
from public transport during the crisis; of increases in delivery
traffic; and potentially of increases in driving when electric
and autonomous vehicles become common.
The current National policy statement
(NPS) on national
networks, the government’s statement of strategic planning
policy for major road and rail schemes, was written in 2014 –
before the government’s legal commitment to net zero, the
10 point plan for a green
industrial revolution, the new sixth carbon budget
and most directly the new, more ambitious policies outlined in
the transport decarbonisation
plan.
While the NPS
continues to remain in force, it is right that we review it in
the light of these developments and update forecasts on which it
is based to reflect more recent, post-pandemic conditions, once
they are known.
The aim is to begin the review later this year and for it to be
completed no later than spring 2023. This review will include a
thorough examination of the modelling and forecasts that support
the statement of need for development and the environmental,
safety, resilience and local community considerations that
planning decisions must take into account.
Reviewing the NPS
will ensure that it remains fit for purpose in supporting the
government’s commitments for appropriate development of
infrastructure for road, rail, and strategic rail freight
interchanges.
While the review is undertaken, the NPS remains relevant
government policy and has effect for the purposes of the
Planning Act 2008. The
NPS will,
therefore, continue to provide a proper basis on which the
Planning Inspectorate can examine, and the Secretary of State for
Transport can make decisions on, applications for development
consent.
