Opinion

Challenging but exciting times ahead in highways.

Graham Dalton, chief executive, Highways Agency

Last summer the Government announced an ambitious programme of investment that will significantly increase capacity on England’s motorway and trunk road network and improve traffic performance – the step change that was first heralded by the Prime Minister’s speech on infrastructure at ICE in March 2012.

Alongside that commitment to invest, the Chancellor also announced that the Highways Agency is to be incorporated with a long term funding commitment in much the same way as other infrastructure companies.

Earlier last month an Infrastructure Bill was laid before Parliament, and all being well that will be passed into law early in the new year. This bill is a huge milestone for transformation of the Highways Agency from an executive agency of government into a properly commercial, dynamic and high performing company working in the public interest. A milestone that means this ambitious change is for real. By this time next year the as yet unnamed new company will be up and running.

I have a great leadership team at the Highways Agency, and our absolute focus over the next few months is on preparing the Agency for incorporation, and building a constructive but different relationship with our funder and sponsor – the Department for Transport and HM Treasury. 

What does this change mean for our suppliers – some of the country’s biggest and best consultants, contractors and specialist sub-contractors? Firstly, it means a growing market with good visibility of forward workload. It means being part of an innovative infrastructure supply chain, developing technical, commercial and project management approaches that will be transferable to other sectors and other international markets. And it means being part of a very collaborative and cost efficient sector that genuinely puts the customer first.

The response from our suppliers has been encouraging, both formally in tenders for our Collaborative Delivery Framework and maintenance contracts, and informally in our day to day dialogue. I have talked with a good few firms keen to break into or return to the Highways sector, and believe that the promise of a more predictable future workload is already proving attractive.

I have a great leadership team at the Highways Agency, and our absolute focus over the next few months is on preparing the Agency for incorporation, and building a constructive but different relationship with our funder and sponsor – the Department for Transport and HM Treasury. We have to do the administrative tasks to operate under a new identity. More importantly, we have to get moving on transforming how we work – building a dynamic business that is centred on customer service, innovation and excellent value for money. 

This is a really exciting time for the highways sector. It isn’t going to be easy. But it really is going to be fun!

The challenges of this transformation are many. We have to keep operating the network and delivering investment as well as managing the change. The appetite for the pace of change, for a new wholly collaborative relationship with Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities, is huge. Government and our customers want to see an immediate difference – yet we know that a big business working in a big infrastructure sector is a slow ship to turn.

Then for us and our suppliers, there will be the challenge of genuinely independent scrutiny, from a cost monitor and from a road user [watchdog]. I have no doubt that they will both be open, honest, and above all demanding in setting out where we need to deliver a better service more efficiently.

This is a really exciting time for the highways sector. It isn’t going to be easy. But it really is going to be fun!

 

Graham Dalton is chief executive of the Highways Agency