Highways England's Management of Ring-Fenced Funds

Tender description

We monitor Highways England and its management of the strategic road network - the motorways and main 'A' roads in England. We are here to ensure they manage the network to deliver performance, including efficiency, safety and sustainability, for the benefit of road users and the public. Our role involves assessing Highways England against the performance specification and investment plan set out in the first Road Investment Strategy (RIS1). The investment plan includes five ring-fenced funds (also known as designated funds), worth £675m over Road Period 1 (April 2015 to March 2020). These funds, which are used to address a range of issues over and above the traditional focus of road investment, are split into the following areas: • Air quality (£75m). This fund was established to develop a range of projects that will result in a reduction in air pollution and ensuring cleaner air on and around the network. • Cycling, safety and integration (£175m). This fund designed to improve safety, increase provision for cyclists on or near the strategic road network, and enhance access for a variety of users, including pedestrians, horse riders and the disabled. This will involve interventions and enhancements to new and existing schemes. • Environment (£225m). This fund is expected to deliver improved environmental performance across carbon, noise, water, biodiversity, landscape and cultural heritage. This includes additional environmental benefits for new schemes as well as measures to retrofit the existing network to tackle current problems. • Innovation (£120m). This fund was created to allow the company to place a greater emphasis on the future technologies that will positively impacts users and the network. • Growth and housing (£80m). This fund was established to ensure that the company is able to respond to future development opportunities and is used to match-fund infrastructure to enable new developments. These funds were announced in 2015 as part of the RIS (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/408514/ris-for-2015-16-road-period-web-version.pdf), and are also set out in Highways England's Delivery Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-england-delivery-plan-2015-2020).