PRESS RELEASE

National Highways accused of wasting public money ahead of infrastructure review decisions

Transport Action Network (TAN) has today accused National Highways of wasting public money ahead of a review of road projects by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh [1].

TAN has received reports from communities across England that National Highways is wasting public funds on stunts to “create the illusion of progress” on its troubled roads programme. This is happening whilst a review is underway of all its road schemes, which is likely to conclude before the Budget on 30 October. Rather than wait for the outcome of the review, National Highways is starting preparatory works on road schemes where business cases have not been approved. It is also conducting expensive and pointless PR events for the £9 billion Lower Thames Crossing when it is not guaranteed to be approved in October.

National Highways has form for this when it was heavily criticised in April for causing unnecessary disruption on local roads surrounding Stonehenge. It went ahead with a closure of the A360 to move power cables, before the legal challenge had concluded. The £2.5 billion A303 Stonehenge scheme was then cancelled in the Chancellor’s Fixing the Foundations spending audit on 29 July [2]

Rebecca Lush, TAN’s roads and climate campaigner, said:

“National Highways is causing disruption to local residents and wasting taxpayer’s money by creating the ‘illusion of progress’ on unaffordable road schemes which may ultimately be cancelled. We have noticed an increase in reports of unnecessary and premature works and road closures, pointless press releases, and PR stunts, all at the taxpayers expense.

Instances where National Highways is wasting public funds:

• National Highways is closing roads and “moving utilities” for the proposed A47 Blofield to North Burlingham project. This is despite National Highways confirming on 27 August 2024 that “the full business case is yet to be written for this scheme [3]. Therefore this scheme is not yet approved, and is part of the DfT’s infrastructure review.
• National Highways is undertaking “telecommunication diversion works” for the proposed A57 Link Roads scheme in the Peak District. Yet on 27 August 2024, National Highways confirmed that “the full business case is not yet complete”[4]. Therefore a final decision has not been taken on this scheme, and this scheme is also in the DfT’s infrastructure review.
• National Highways are organising a “series of events” at ten locations across Essex and Kent, for the public to have “the chance to chat with our team” about the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing [5]. This is despite the LTC being likely to be cancelled in the forthcoming infrastructure review, and having no planning consent. It is not known how much these PR events have cost taxpayers.

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Notes for Editors

[1] The transport infrastructure review of the “DfT’s capital spend portfolio” was announced by the Transport Secretary on 30 July 2024.

[2] Fixing the Foundations, 29 July 2024

[3] National Highways confirmed in a response to a Freedom of Information request that the Full Business Case (FBC) for the A47 Blofield to North Burlingham is “yet to be written”

[4] National Highways confirmed in a response to a Freedom of Information request that the Full Business Case (FBC) for the A57 Link Roads is “not yet complete”

[5] The ten “community events” for the £9 billion+ Lower Thames Crossing are being held from 17 September until 3 October. A decision by the Secretary of State on whether to grant the Development Consent Order (DCO) planning consent is due on 4 October, although this may be delayed due to the transport infrastructure review. As the £9bn+ LTC is by far the most expensive of the road schemes under consideration in the capital spend review, with a very weak business case, there is growing speculation it could be cancelled as it is unaffordable and does not fulfil its objectives. More information on the PR events here.

For more information on the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing, please see the TAN website and Thames Crossing Action Group.