The government has confirmed that it will be taking forward reforms to the Highways Agency (HA), following a consultation into the proposals earlier in the year.

CIHT made a significant contribution to the consultation, including holding workshops with Department for Transport (DfT) officials and a range of members, to discuss the proposal in greater detail.

Andrew Hugill, Director of Policy & Technical Affairs said:

“It is pleasing to see that many of the points we raised such as the GoCo’s powers around planning on the local network have been addressed in their response and we will continue to work with DfT, the HA and the supply chain to help ensure the changes continue to move forward.”

“This announcement gives the highways & transport sector greater certainty of funding and that the government will move forward with the reforms to turn the Agency into a government company, a move which was welcomed by CIHT and many of the respondents to the consultation.”

The next stage is in June when the legislation to enable the changes is understood to be included in the Queens Speech. Further details will be issued by the Department at that stage.

The government’s response to the consultation can be found here