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.
A document produced by consultants on behalf of the Office of Rail and Road provides conclusive proof that Highways England (as the company was called) originally set out to retrofit stopped vehicle detection (SVD) by March 2023 to both those sections of all lane running motorway that were already open and those that were due to open in the meantime.
The document also confirms that the scope of the programme did not change when the company announced that it had brought the deadline forward to September 2022.
It states: ‘Highways England has shared a programme that it has stated is on target to deliver the remaining 21 retrofit SVD schemes, ahead of the March 2023 deadline.'
This refers to the 21 schemes – both open and under construction – set out in the company’s 2020-25 Delivery Plan.
It adds: ‘We would anticipate that ORR will wish to receive a report on the progress against the updated programme as part of its monitoring process (e.g. as part of the monthly and quarterly reports produced by Highways England, as appropriate).’
The document, dated July 2021, also notes that the deadline had been publicly stated to have been brought forward by six months.
However, as Highways has reported, this announcement was a sleight of hand. National Highways changed the definition of ‘existing’ schemes to cover only those schemes that were open at the time of the original pledge.
The company only met its revised target by ignoring its failure to retrofit SVD to schemes under construction by September. This included schemes whose opening was delayed specifically because SVD was still being fitted or calibrated.
An ORR spokesperson told Highways: ‘We are aware of the change of definition that affects National Highways’ commitments to install SVD on sections of ALR in construction. We are holding National Highways to account for its commitments.’
When asked to clarify whether it was ‘holding National Highways to account’ against the original deadline or the revised one, the spokesman said the ORR was ‘holding National Highways to account for the updated definition’.
This is not the first time National Highways has changed key safety targets with apparently no action from the ORR. In the first Road Investment Strategy Highways England (as was) said it would 'ensure that the majority of those roads with 1* [star] and 2* [safety rating] have improved to 3*. This pledge was later dropped with no protest from the ORR as it was claimed it was too challenging.
