Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Acknowledged
Department failed to investigate financial impacts of increasing guarantee period despite commitment.
Conclusion
It was disappointing to hear that, having said in 2019 that further investigation was needed into the financial impacts of increasing the guarantee period, the Department has not undertaken any further work on the issues. This is an inefficient use of a resource-intensive consultation process. (Conclusion, Paragraph 36)
Government Response Summary
The government outlines the current oversight and dispute resolution framework for street works in England and commits to engaging with HAUC (UK) to understand if existing processes for dispute resolution, performance monitoring, and legislative application could be enhanced. It also states it will continue to engage with the Scottish government regarding their Road Works Commissioner.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We recognise the Committee’s interest in strengthening consistency and accountability across the street works sector. In England, there is currently no equivalent to the Scottish Road Works Commissioner. Oversight is shared between the Department for Transport, which sets the legislative and regulatory framework, and individual highway authorities, who manage works on their networks in line with their statutory duties. Dispute resolution is set out in the Co-ordination Code of Practice. Straightforward cases are referred to the chairs of a regional HAUC for mediation. More complex cases are escalated to HAUC England and, if necessary, to HAUC UK. If agreement still cannot be reached following panel review, the chairs of HAUC(UK) will appoint an independent adjudicator from a list of recognised bodies. The adjudicator’s decision is then deemed final. The Government is currently undertaking a review of arm’s length bodies with a view to close, merge or bring functions back into departments if their continued existence cannot be justified. The creation of a new arm’s length body in the form of the Street Works Commissioner appears inconsistent with this approach but we remain open to exploring ways to improve the existing system. We will engage with HAUC (UK) to understand whether current processes for dispute resolution, performance monitoring, and the application and understanding of legislation including through the provision of guidance could be enhanced to better support consistency and transparency across the sector. We acknowledge the Committee’s reference to the Scottish Street Works Commissioner and will continue to engage with colleagues in Scotland to share best practice and understand the impacts of their Commissioner. It is worth noting that the volume of road works is considerably less in Scotland – there were 163,147 works in Scotland in 2023/241 as opposed to over 2m in England.2 Therefore, the resource requirements for an English commissioner and an office to support him/her would be significantly greater. 1 SRWC Road Works Monitoring Report 2023–24 2 Source: Street Manager. The DfT receives data reports from Street Manager. Data in Street Manager is input by users who are responsible for ensuring it is accurate.