ORR adapts National Highways scrutiny process for interim year02/05/2025 National Highways will face greater scrutiny on unit and asset class costs in this interim funding year (2025-2026), although exactly how it will be held to account on key areas such as safety and delays is still being ironed out. |
ORR glosses over lack of progress on SRN safety14/03/2025 National Highways has so far only implemented half of the actions it promised last March to cut casualties on its network and remains likely to miss its safety target for the current roads period. |
Slow progress on emergency SRN safety plan11/03/2025 Some of the measures in a year-old plan that National Highways was required to draw up to address its failing safety record are ‘still going through consultation and governance’. |
ORR continues to scrutinise unknown territory03/02/2025 National Highways’ official monitor has has declined to assert that it is able to fulfil its role of holding it to account in the absence of an updated delivery plan. |
National Highways stuck in financial no man's land05/09/2024 The Government has still not confirmed National Highways’ funding for this financial year, despite the regulator warning the current portfolio 'appears to be undeliverable’ if the crisis is not resolved. |
Exclusive: Secret talks over secret safety plan27/08/2024 National Highways has admitted that it may not implement all the measures in a secret plan to improve its failing safety performance, but its regulator has refused to confirm whether it was made aware of this. |
National Highways brushes off complacency criticism20/08/2024 A top National Highways official has pushed back against criticism from the company’s regulator that it ignored warnings over the risk of missing its 2025 casualty reduction target. |
National Highways off track on carbon target13/08/2024 National Highways’ regulator has challenged it over its refusal to accelerate its LED lighting replacement programme, despite the company being predicted to narrowly miss its revised 2025 carbon emissions target. |
ORR to launch consultation on its monitoring role29/05/2024 The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will launch a consultation this summer on how it could hold National Highways to account in the future, a top official told Traffex visitors. |
ORR opens full investigation into National Highways after 'recurring issues'14/02/2024 The roads monitor has opened up a wide-ranging investigation into National Highways' performance, which it says has dipped in a number of areas. |
Stopped vehicle detection hits target but 85% of testing data unusable18/12/2023 National Highways has made significant progress on smart motorway safety according to a new report from the roads monitor however concerns remain about the strength of the underlying testing data. |
ORR tells National Highways 'time is running out' on safety target18/12/2023 National Highways is off course to meet its key safety target of halving KSIs by 2025 - compared to a 2005 to 2009 average baseline - and been told by England's road monitor to draw up an urgent action plan. |
ORR changes tune on whole-life asset management17/10/2023 National Highways’ performance against its key performance indicator for pavement condition varies across its regions, despite meeting the target, its monitor has said. |
National Highways faces barriers to RIS 2 success18/07/2023 National Highways has generally delivered well for road users over the past year but faces continuing challenges with its big projects, its monitor has said. |
Exclusive: ORR turned blind eye to smart motorway target switch01/12/2022 National Highways’ official monitor has admitted that it was aware that the government-owned company had moved the goalposts on one of its key smart motorway safety pledges, and now claims to be ‘holding it to account’ against the watered-down target. |
ORR kicks live lane crash fears into long grass15/11/2022 The strategic roads monitor has ‘begun’ work to assess the effectiveness of radar-based stopped vehicle detection (SVD) technology on smart motorways, a year after a recommendation from MPs that was agreed by ministers in January. |
National Highways risks falling behind on enhancements20/07/2022 National Highways’ official monitor has criticised it for a lack of foresight over two major schemes that failed to start work on time and warned of an increasing number of schemes ‘at risk’ of missing start or completion dates. |
ORR raises safety, asset management and biodiversity concerns15/07/2022 National Highways met its road investment strategy targets in 2021-22, but its official monitor has raised concerns about three ‘critical’ areas of delivery, including traffic officer response times on smart motorways. |
Only half of road closures on the SRN notified correctly09/02/2022 All National Highways regions are currently performing ‘well below’ its target level for the accuracy and timeliness of notifications of overnight road closures, according to its monitor. |
RIS safety target in doubt without lockdown17/01/2022 New analysis suggests National Highways would have missed a vital road safety target if traffic levels had not plummeted during the pandemic. |
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