Consultancy support for review of Highways England's capital delivery plan

Tender description

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) independently monitors Highways England's management of the motorways and main A roads in England. This includes investigating, publishing reports and giving advice to the Secretary of State on whether and at what cost it is meeting the objectives of the Road Investment Strategy (RIS). Highways England is required to progress delivery of 112 major improvement schemes over the course of the first Road Period (RP1), April 2015 - March 2020. The details of the capital investment that Highways England must deliver are set out in the Investment Plan, which forms part of the RIS. The Investment Plan sets out funding for the five years in RIS1 as well as the first year of the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2). Highways England's Delivery Plan, and its updates, set out how the company will deliver over the first road period, including for the 112 major schemes. The company provides ORR with regular progress reports on the delivery of the major schemes. During 2016-17, Highways England has revised its capital investment delivery plan for its major schemes with a particular focus on their scope, value for money and impact on road user experience. It refers to this work as optimisation of the portfolio. The company published its revised plan on 19 October. Highways England assesses the deliverability of its major scheme portfolio, and provides information to support ORR's monitoring in this area. ORR carried out a review of a sample of Highways England's major schemes during 2016-17 and published the findings and recommendations in July 2017. The study identified areas of good practice and opportunities for Highways England to improve. We are now procuring additional resource to support our review of Highways England's capital plan, and to assess the company's evidence on whether the plan is deliverable and affordable.