The government’s reform programme, which began in 2014/15, has
delivered better value for money for taxpayers, led to more
efficient planning of road maintenance and upgrades and provided
greater confidence for the supply chain, the report said.
The changes involved the move from the Highways Agency to
Highways England (now National Highways), a government-owned
company. It was accompanied by a five-year funding deal to allow
for better planning for the ongoing work to maintain the
strategic road network (SRN) – motorways and major A-roads.
This was supported by a threefold increase in investment into the
network, which rose to £4.5 billion per annum, as well as new
monitoring and watchdog roles overseen by the Office of Rail and
Road and Transport Focus.
Ipsos Mori and Risk Solution have evaluated the reforms through a
series of reports published in 2016 and 2019.
Today, the third and final evaluation is published drawing on
interviews with external stakeholders, suppliers and road user
groups, as well as reviews of National Highways’ work.
The changes were designed to improve road users’ experience,
provide value for money to taxpayers and support growth through
facilitating quicker and more efficient journeys across the
country.
Overall, today’s report says that the reforms “have been
effective in improving how the SRN is managed, and that they have
had positive effects on value for money and road users’
experience”. It has also led to significant efficiency savings
being made, it says.
The introduction of five-year Road Investment Strategies has
provided National Highways with greater funding certainty over
longer periods, leading to increased reliability and flexibility
regarding project delivery and supplier procurement.
Nick Harris, Chief Executive at National Highways, said:
Having secure long-term investment in place has made an enormous
difference to the way we operate, allowing us to be more
strategic and innovative in our management of the network and in
our relationships with our stakeholders.
Ultimately our focus is on ensuring that the strategic road
network is as safe and secure as possible, and greater financial
security means we have more freedom in considering the best
methods of supporting that approach and our customers.
The report said that:
National Highways has made £1.45 billion of efficiency savings in
the first five years compared with a target of £1.21 billion.
This was in the context of significant growth within the
organisation and delivering a much-expanded programme of work.
- Stakeholders believed the changes had allowed National
Highways to “identify and focus on the most important long-term
priorities rather than frequently switching between issues
attracting attention at a particular time, and has more scope to
consider what will be needed in future”;
- The move away from the Highways Agency to an independent
government-owned company had led to “better consideration of the
needs and experiences of its customers”, including those people
and organisations using the SRN as well as communities near the
network;
- The funding certainty had, interviewees said, “led to more
stability in the enhancement programme with fewer projects being
cancelled at short notice, and better planning and coordination
of work”;
- There was greater certainty for suppliers through the use of
longer-term contracts and contracting directly with smaller
suppliers, resulting in “greater efficiency in the management of
the SRN”;
- The increased confidence was thought to have encouraged the
supply chain to “invest in capabilities and infrastructure, and
improve ways of working through innovation”;
- The creation of formal highways monitor and watchdog roles
has led to National Highways having greater accountability and
focus on customer and outcome-based performance.
The evaluation comes as National Highways publishes its latest
efficiency report. The company is continuing to reach its targets
on delivering better value for money for the taxpayer, with a
cumulative year two efficiency milestone of £471 million reached.
View the Evaluation of Roads Reform
report.
