Eighth Special Report - Strategic road investment: Government response to the Committee’s sixth report

This is the government's response, published 20 October 2023.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government's response to the Committee's report on strategic road investment includes agreement on two recommendations, partial agreement on two, and a position of "notes" on four others, with a stated commitment to publish its RIS3 investment priorities later in 2023.

• On maintenance, the government "agrees" that future investment should prioritise renewal of existing assets, stating that decisions on the balance of spending are made through the statutory RIS process, with more detail in the draft RIS3 "later in 2023".
• On fuelling the future vehicle fleet, the government "partially agrees", pointing to its EV Infrastructure Strategy and a zero emission HGV infrastructure strategy that is "expected to be published in 2024".
• On a live project dashboard, the government "agrees" but says a genuinely 'live' system "would not be practical", and will work with National Highways and the ORR "to explore the opportunity for more frequent public project reporting in one place".
• On scaling back complex enhancement projects, the government "notes" the recommendation, saying the ORR and IPA "did not suggest fundamental changes" for RIS2 and that larger schemes "inevitably have longer delivery periods" across road periods.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error