National Highways delivers ‘significant improvements’ for road users

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) says that National Highways has delivered significant improvements for road users over the past five years.

But, according to ORR’s assessment of National Highways’ performance and delivery, it must learn lessons from missed commitments to deliver better performance over the next five years.

During the past five years, the company opened 30 major enhancement schemes for traffic with another 11 under construction, achieved improved environmental outcomes, and met targets for clearing incidents, mitigating the impact of roadworks and maintaining the road surface, according to the report, which was published on Friday (July 18).

National Highways also made £2.2 billion in efficiency savings, more than its target, particularly considering a context of high inflation during the period, and a significantly altered programme, including the national emergency area retrofit scheme on all-lane running smart motorways. 

However, the company missed or is likely to miss five of its 12 key performance indicators, for reasons both within and outside its control.

These are: the number of people killed or seriously injured on the strategic road network; timeliness and accuracy of roadworks information; corporate carbon reduction; mitigation of delay; and road user satisfaction levels. 

The company also did not deliver 11 enhancements to the dates it committed, as well as two of its five renewals outputs commitments, for reasons within its control.

In light of its missed and forecast missed commitments, ORR expects National Highways to collate the lessons it has learned into a continuous improvement plan, so it can better prepare to meet its commitments and challenges for the next road period (2025-30).

National Highways must also continue the good progress it has made to implement its improvement plan following ORR’s investigation into its performance and capability, it says.

This includes improving its ability to understand the impacts of interventions, and how these translate into improved performance and delivery for road users.

John Larkinson, ORR chief executive, said: “Ten years ago, roads reform changed the way England’s strategic roads are planned, funded and delivered.

“I’m pleased to say that, overall, National Highways has delivered a much better and more efficient network in a challenging environment, and hence those reforms have delivered for road users and taxpayers.

“But National Highways has missed some important commitments. Looking ahead, there is a tight fiscal environment and a crucial need for National Highways to be a key driver of economic growth.

“The company must now learn the lessons of its first decade of responsibility for the strategic road network, so that it can deliver more for road users and taxpayers in the next road period.”

Responding to the report, a National Highways spokesperson said: “In the last five years we have supported economic growth by completing 30 major road schemes - generating £1.80 in public benefit for every £1 spent on these investments.

“The number of people killed and serious injured on our roads has reduced by 39% and we’ve made strong progress on our environmental targets. 

“We’re proud of what we have delivered despite challenges including planning delays, the pandemic, and inflation and we welcome ORR’s oversight as we focus on learning from this road period.”