Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Accepted
Previous local road maintenance incentive scheme lacked evaluation and independent auditing oversight.
Conclusion
The Department also told us that, as part of developing a new incentive funding scheme for local authorities on local road maintenance, it will be looking at learning from the previous scheme.63 In that scheme, the Department had made more money available to those local authorities that self-assessed that they had implemented good asset management practices.64 The NAO report found that the Department did not carry out any checks on authority assessments to confirm whether the grades that authorities awarded themselves were reasonable, and the Department’s use of funding incentives no longer works as intended. The Department had also not evaluated this incentive funding scheme or assessed the impact it has had on local authorities’ approach to asset management.65 In its consideration of the new scheme, the Department told us that it will particularly reflect on its lack of auditing, with local authorities ‘marking their own homework’.66
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation and will refresh the 'Code of Practice for Well Managed Highway Infrastructure' guidance. They are considering how local highway authorities might be required to comply with criteria in the revised guidance to qualify for funding, acknowledging it will not be feasible to link directly to the incentive element in place from Q1 2025-26.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2026 6.2 The government agrees that the current guidance that has been provided to local highway authorities through the ‘Code of Practice for Well Managed Highway Infrastructure’ document should be refreshed. The department has commissioned TRL to work with the sector to develop a scope for the refreshed guidance regarding where there may be gaps in the current guidance, such as around some environmental matters. The department will consider further whether, and if so how, local highway authorities might be required to comply with certain best practice criteria set out in the revised guidance to qualify for some or all of the funding. 6.3 The update to the code of practice is currently estimated to take between 12 and 18 months, so it will not be feasible to link it to the incentive element directly, which will be in place from quarter one in financial year 2025-26.