Highways Agency
Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers
Annual Report & Accounts 2000/01
- Highlights of 2000/01
- Chief Executive's Foreword
- Chapter 1 The Agency and What it Does
- Chapter 2 Maintaining the Network
- Chapter 3 Making the Best Use of the Network
- Chapter 4 Safety on the Road
- Chapter 5 Caring for the Environment
- Chapter 6 Improving the Network
- Chapter 7 Listening to the Agency's Customers
The Accounts and Appendicies are available in the downloadable below.
Annual Report & Accounts (780KB PDF)
Hard copies are available from: The Stationery Office, tel: 0870 600 55 22, price: £18.35, quote: ISBN 0102913641
Highlights of 2000/01
- July 2000
The Government announces its 10 Year Plan for transport. This provides for £21 billion of investment for the Agency's roads over the next 10 years. - July 2000
All of the Agency's non-motorway trunk roads in London transfer to Greater London Authority (GLA) under the new London Mayor. - October 2000
The Agency is awarded Investors in People accreditation, representing a tribute to the hard work and dedication of its staff. - October 2000
The final section of the M60 Manchester outer ring road from Denton to Middleton was opened. This scheme will bring significant economic benefits to deprived areas by taking heavy traffic out of a busy town centre, providing better connections for long-distance traffic and improving safety on local roads. - March 2001
Contract awarded for the £160 million public private partnership Traffic Control Centre. When fully operational by March 2004, it will provide a state-of-the-art facility for providing traffic information on our roads direct to the public, media and private sector organisations. - March 2001
The Agency publishes its first ever Corporate Plan. This sets out how it will change and modernise itself over the next five years to deliver a better service. - March 2001
The Agency wins the construction industry's Most Committed Client award, with 75 of its sites qualifying as considerate contractors, more than any other client in England and Wales.
Chief Executive's Foreword
I am delighted to present this report of the achievement and performance of the Highways Agency in 2000/2001. This year was one of considerable success for the Agency in delivering the targets set by Ministers; it was also one of immense importance for the future of the Agency, following the publication of the Government's 10 Year Plan for Transport.
The 10 Year Plan underlined the vital importance of the strategic road network to the country's economic and social development, and set out a plan for major investment - some £21 billion - to maintain and develop the network. In October 2000 the Agency published its proposals for taking forward the 10 Year Plan in Strategic Roads 2010. Much of the focus for the Agency in the 10 Year Plan is on how it can contribute to improving safety and reducing congestion on the network. The Agency also has important wider contributions to make to developing integrated transport solutions and to supporting sustainable development, including solutions to minimise the impact of its network on the environment.
The 10 Year Plan sets ambitious targets for the Agency. The scale of the targets themselves, and how the Agency should best organise itself and its supply chain to deliver them, is challenging and will require the Agency to modernise its systems and priorities. The record of financial performance, service delivery and organisational development set out in this report provides an important platform of strength on which the Agency is now building to deliver its services.
The year also saw the publication of the Agency's first Corporate Plan. This set out how the Agency needed to change itself and modernise its own practices to deliver better services for its customers.
The Agency delivers the majority of its services through third parties, indeed some 96% of its expenditure pays for services and developments procured from companies - contractors, consultants, IT suppliers, maintaining agents, maintenance contractors, etc. The quality of the service provided by the Agency is therefore critically dependent on the quality of its own procurement methods, and the standards of service it receives from its suppliers. The Agency is committed to staying at the forefront of procurement practice in the public sector, but I would also like to acknowledge the important contribution made to the Agency's successes by it's suppliers.
None of the achievements recorded in this report would have been possible without the high standard of professionalism and enthusiasm for good service that are the hallmarks of the Agency's staff. I would like to express my appreciation to them. The Agency's commitment to good staff management and communications was reflected in the award of Investors in People accreditation in October 2000.
The Agency will continue to build on its successes reported for 2000/2001 as it moves forward in implementing the 10 Year Plan. It is committed to providing a better service for road users and for the communities it serves.
Chapter 1 The Agency and What it Does
The strategic road network, maintained by the Highways Agency, is used by vehicles covering one-third of a billion kilometers daily
The Highways Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) responsible for maintaining, operating and improving a strategic road network of motorways and trunk roads in England ('the network'), currently valued at about £60 billion. It has 11 offices in nine locations, with its headquarters in London and employed about 1,560 staff during 2000/01 (this figure excludes Agency posts which transferred to Transport for London (TfL), part of the new Greater London Authority, in July 2000).
Although only 4% by length of the total roads in the country, the Agency's network carries a third of all road traffic and two-thirds of all freight traffic, forming the social and economic backbone of the country.
As a network operator for the motorway and trunk road network, the Agency has a role both as an asset manager, maintaining and developing the network, and as a traffic manager, delivering a service to provide reliable and safe journeys as part of an integrated transport system.
The Agency also aims to develop and manage the network in a way that respects the environment and contributes to the sustainable development of the country and its economy. The Agency's long-term aim and objectives are set out in Appendix 1.
In July 2000, the Government launched Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan. This set out the Government's long-term strategy for delivering improvements to the country's transport system and will see £21 billion invested in the strategic road network over the next 10 Years. The Agency played a significant role in developing this plan and will make a major contribution to delivering its road-based outcomes. In October 2000 the Agency launched its response document, Strategic Roads 2010, setting out how it will deliver its contribution to the 10 Year Plan outcomes. This will be done through: contributing to easing congestion; providing effective maintenance; safer travel; better information; smarter roads; quieter roads and delivering in partnership.
Chapter 2 Maintaining the Network
The Agency's highest priority
Indicator
The estimated proportion of the network likely to require maintenance in the next year
Target
Between 7 and 8%
Performance
7.1%
Night maintenance works minimises disruption to road users.
The Agency was responsible for some 9,805 km (6,128 miles) of motorways and trunk roads in 2000/01, including about 16,000 structures such as bridges and gantries. Maintaining this national asset is its highest priority. This involves a wide range of activities from replacing worn-out road surfaces and repairing safety barriers, to responding to incidents (e.g. accidents or a spillage) to ensure the safety of road users and when necessary clearing debris so the road can re-open as quickly as possible.
In 2000/01 the Agency spent around half (some £722 million) of its total programme budget of £1,418 million on maintenance. This kept the network safe and close to optimum condition, meeting the Agency's target of ensuring no more than 7 - 8% of the network remained in need of maintenance at the end of the year. In order to keep disruption to its customers to a minimum, wherever possible the Agency carried out road works outside the busiest times, suspending them when major events, such as the FA Cup Final, caused extra demand.
Coping with bad weather is an important part of the Agency's maintenance activities. October and November 2000 saw record-breaking rainfall and widespread flooding across the country. Though the Agency's road drainage systems coped well with the large quantities of rainwater running off the road, they had difficulty coping with additional water soaking in from the saturated surrounding land. This resulted in some roads having to be closed due to local flooding. The Agency is investigating techniques to improve the way it deals with these sorts of problems in future. Despite the heavy snow and ice that affected most parts of England over Christmas and the new year, the Agency successfully kept all of its motorways and most of its trunk roads open.
In partnership with British Waterways, the Agency filled in a strech of the Birmingham Fazeley Canal to carry out maintenance work on the Oldbury Viaduct under the M5
The use of new technology continues to play a key role in improving the way the Agency carries out its maintenance work, reducing the need for future maintenance and keeping disruption to traffic to a minimum. For example, the use of satellites to carry out geological surveys has helped the Agency avoid the need for costly and disruptive investigations into rock faces and other difficult-to-access areas alongside busy motorways and trunk roads. The condition of rocky outcrops next to the M6 at the Lune Gorge in Cumbria is now surveyed using satellite-based cameras.
The Agency also uses a variety of high-tech systems to gather information on its network, which help it to plan its work more effectively and target maintenance where it is most needed. Methods include the use of specialist high-speed survey vehicles and computerised systems to collect, store and analyse information on the condition of the network. This work is already showing real benefits and will continue to be developed over the coming years.
Case study : Protection against salt corrosion
The Agency's reinforced concrete motorway bridges are weather-resistant, even in exposed areas like the Lake District. However, over the 30 years that the M6 around Penrith has been operational, some of the large quantities of de-icing salt used to keep it open to traffic in the winter months has penetrated into several of the structures and has caused the steel reinforcement to corrode and the concrete to deteriorate.
Six bridges between junctions 38 and 40 of this stretch of the M6 were badly affected by this, and also needed strengthening to cater for vehicle impacts. To avoid the use of costly traditional procedures, which would have caused major disruption to traffic, the Agency carried out an innovative £820,000 scheme to repair these bridges and strengthen their supports.
This innovative project used an electrochemical process to reduce the high concentrations of salt in the concrete. The supports were then wrapped in fibre-reinforced polymer sheets which were bonded to the concrete surface. These will prevent further absorption of de-icing salts into the concrete and strengthen the supports.
Bridge protection against salt corrosion on the M6
Chapter 3 Making the Best Use of the Network
Making the best use of the Agency's roads and tackling congestion
Indicator
To achieve a saving of x estimated vehicle hours from the network communications and economy local network management schemes (LNMSs) completed in the year
Target
250,000 vehicle hours
Performance
628,071
Trial of 'ramp metering' on the M27
The Agency is committed to improving the service to its customers through making the best use of the existing network. This will be achieved through actively managing the traffic using the network, influencing demand by encouraging integration with other forms of transport, providing all road users with better information to enable them to make an informed choice about their journey and improving the network where necessary.
In combination, these measures helped to improve the reliability of journey times across the network during 2000/01, with the Agency saving 628,071 vehicle hours, exceeding its target of 250,000 hours.
The Agency has an extensive programme of local network management schemes (LNMS). These are smaller schemes, costing less than £5 million, which target local problems on the network and deliver improvements quickly. The Agency also made significant progress with its programme of 51 early action schemes aimed at tackling congestion, completing seven schemes in 2000/01. This three-year programme is due to be completed by 31 March 2003.
The Agency has an extensive research programme to develop new and innovative techniques to improve the maintenance and performance of the network and help road users. This research is vital to providing the Agency with the technology needed to enable it to actively manage traffic on its network. In 2000/01 the Agency spent £14 million on researching ways to use new technology.
The Agency is using the latest advances in communication technology to help it to take a proactive approach to the management of traffic on its network. In 2000/01 the Agency added further to its extensive network of variable message signs (VMS) and CCTV cameras. These assist the police to respond more quickly to incidents on the network - a major cause of congestion - and to warn drivers of problems ahead.
In combination, these measures helped to improve the reliability of journey times across the network during 2000/01, with the Agency saving 628,071 vehicle hours, exceeding its target of 250,000 hours.
The Agency has an extensive programme of local network management schemes (LNMS). These are smaller schemes, costing less than £5 million, which target local problems on the network and deliver improvements quickly. The Agency also made significant progress with its programme of 51 early action schemes aimed at tackling congestion, completing seven schemes in 2000/01. This three-year programme is due to be completed by 31 March 2003.
The Agency has an extensive research programme to develop new and innovative techniques to improve the maintenance and performance of the network and help road users. This research is vital to providing the Agency with the technology needed to enable it to actively manage traffic on its network. In 2000/01 the Agency spent £14 million on researching ways to use new technology.
The Agency is using the latest advances in communication technology to help it to take a proactive approach to the management of traffic on its network. In 2000/01 the Agency added further to its extensive network of variable message signs (VMS) and CCTV cameras. These assist the police to respond more quickly to incidents on the network - a major cause of congestion - and to warn drivers of problems ahead.
To help keep traffic flowing on the motorway, the Agency is using 'ramp metering' at six sites on the M3 and M27 motorways near Southampton.
This is a traffic management technique which controls the amount of vehicles allowed to join the motorway at peak periods. The system, which uses part-time traffic signals triggered when sensors indicate a heavy volume of traffic, already operates successfully in the United States, France and Holland. If successful, this system will be extended to other parts of the Agency's network.
Bottlenecks are a major cause of congestion and driver frustration and increase the risk of accidents. Controlling and smoothing traffic flow on the network helps to avoid these bottlenecks forming. In order to help achieve this, the Agency has been operating a controlled motorway scheme on the M25, between junctions 11 and 15. This automatically sets a lower speed limit when normal traffic flow is interrupted, helping to keep traffic moving smoothly. Following its success, this scheme is due to be extended to other parts of the M25.
Another technique used by the Agency is the stationing of emergency response vehicles on 24-hour standby on the M6 in Cheshire. These can arrive at the scene of an accident or spillage within minutes to clear the carriageway quickly and help keep traffic moving (see case study).
Better information for drivers is at the heart of the Agency's network operator role and a key outcome in the 10 Year Plan. By being better informed, road users are more able to plan their journey in advance to avoid congestion. To help deliver better information, the Agency let a £160 million public-private partnership contract in March 2001 for its new Traffic Control Centre. When fully operational by March 2004, this will provide a state-of-the-art facility for providing up-to-the-minute information on traffic conditions on the network direct to the public, media and private sector organisations, as well as helping to manage traffic on the road.
To encourage an integrated approach towards travel, the Agency has continued to contribute to the Government Offices' multi-modal studies on key transport corridors, and is working closely with regional development agencies to develop regional transport strategies, as well as managing a programme of road-based studies to find solutions to particular problems. This regionally-focused and integrated approach to solving transport problems will see real benefits as the studies progress.
Case study: M6 Emergency support vehicles
Even minor incidents on motorways can quickly create unsafe situations and cause serious delays. A trial fleet of emergency support vehicles on the M6 in Cheshire has been highly successful in cutting response times to incidents on the busy motorway from 57 minutes to just 15.
With two-man crews and distinctive livery, the vehicles are on call 24-hours a day to support the emergency services.
They are equipped to divert traffic around incidents and deal with debris and spillages on carriageways. They also carry out regular patrols of the motorway, to clear the road and assist drivers if required.
Emergency response vehicles assist the emergency services 24-hours a day on the M6
Chapter 4 Safety on the Road
Improving safety for all road users
Indicator
The number of people killed or seriously injured on our network
Target
4713 (compared with the 1994/8 average of 4991)*
Performance
4549
Indicator
The number of slight casualties
Target
21.13 per 100 million vehicle kilometres (compared with the 1994/8 average of 21.76)
Performance
20.82
*adjusted baseline to take account of transfer of London roads to TfL
Solar-powered road studs
The Agency's network is one of the safest in the world, and its motorways are the safest roads in the country with the number of people killed on its roads having halved over the past 15 years. The Agency is building on this record and working to improve safety even further, using a combination of the measures below. The success of these measures is demonstrated by the fact that in 2000/01 the Agency easily exceeded its target by reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on its roads by 442 compared to the 1994/98 average. Slight injuries were also down by more than the target to 20.82 per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled in 2000/01.
The Agency carries out an extensive programme of smaller scale local network management schemes, completing 283 in 2000/01 and delivering 33 early action schemes aimed at improving safety on motorways and trunk roads.
One example is the £2.5 million safety scheme at junction 6 of the eastbound M25. This included a new hard shoulder, installation of better lighting and three new gantries. These measures are expected to improve safety on this busy motorway.
The Agency carries out research into the causes of accidents, using the information to monitor the effectiveness of its safety schemes and identify ways to further improve safety for all road users. When major accidents happen, it is important that the Agency learns from them so they can be avoided if at all possible in the future.
In a tragic incident near Selby on 28 February 2001, a Land Rover and trailer left the M62 at the Little Heck bridge and came to rest on the East Coast main rail line, leading to the derailment of two trains and the deaths of 10 people. The Agency asked the Transport Research Laboratory to report on the road condition and this report was published alongside the interim report from the Health and Safety Executive on 6 March.
The Agency was subsequently asked by Ministers to review its standard for the provision of nearside safety barriers and formed a Working Group to look at this issue. It is also represented on a Health and Safety Commission Working Group looking at incidents where vehicles have blocked rail lines.
Digital Speed Camera
As the amount of traffic on the Agency's network increases, safety is evermore important. Properly maintained roads make a significant contribution to safer roads, e.g. salting the roads ahead of cold weather, removing debris and spillages, managing traffic at road works, installing 'rumble strips' and using skid-resistant materials where appropriate.
Many of the improvements the Agency is introducing to ease congestion will also contribute to improving safety. A large proportion of accidents occur at the back of queues when the average traffic speed suddenly drops. By keeping traffic moving, informing drivers through Variable Message Signs and responding quickly to incidents these types of accidents can be reduced.
Driving at inappropriate speed is a major cause of road accidents. In partnership with Nottingham City Council and the Police, the Agency installed 18 pairs of digital speed cameras on the A6154 and A610 near Nottingham. These cameras enforce the 30 and 40mph speed limits by measuring a vehicle's speed over a distance and do not rely on film, so they are always 'on duty'. This trial is already proving successful, and is expected to prevent 165 injuries over the first three years.
Mouson Bends, a winding section of the A1 in Northumberland, has benefited from the installation of 'intelligent' road studs. These are solar-powered self-illuminating studs, which store energy in a battery for use at night. They help drivers to judge the line of the road at night or in poor visibility and have already proved successful in improving safety at other locations.
The Agency is committed to improving road safety for all road users, not just drivers. It has opened a Pegasus crossing on the busy, dual carriageway A405 near Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire. This is a shared-use crossing, similar to the 'green man' Pelican crossings, which allows vulnerable road users such as horse-riders, cyclists and pedestrians to cross the road when the horse sign turns from red to green.
Case study: Solar-powered bollards
The Millenium Cycleway crosses the A550 trunk road in the Wirral at Ledsham, Cheshire. The site is 10 km (six miles), from Chester and three km (two miles) from Ellesmere Port, and is in a rural area with no street lighting.
A safe cycle crossing must be well lit, but installing access to a power supply at such a remote location would have proved prohibitively expensive. The Agency's engineers came up with an innovative solution using solar panels to provide illumination to twin bollards which operate from dusk till dawn. The system includes a 40-day standby supply to cope with the dullest days in the winter when there is very little sunshine to harness.
These solar-powered bollards, the first in the country, have been operating successfully for a year. This solution offers a cost-effective way of improving safety by providing illuminated cycle-crossing and right-hand-turn facilities at isolated junctions with no power supply.
Solar-powered crossing on the A550 at Ledsham, Cheshire
Chapter 5 Caring for the Environment
Minimising the impact of the network
Indicator
Achieve an average target of x% across the four environment programme sub-indicators. (Noise, Air Quality, Biodiversity, Landscape)
Target
85%
Performance
93.6%
Indicator
% of vacant residential properties at the end of year does not exceed x% of residential portfolio.
Target
15%
Performance
15.4%
Indicator
% of vacant habitable properties empty for > 6 months does not exceed x%.
Target
3%
Performance
3%
The Highways Agency works in partnership with environmental organisations to help safeguard the environment
The Agency's network is the economic and social backbone of the country's transport system, but can impact on the environment and those living nearby. The Agency is fully committed to minimising the impact its roads have on both the natural and built environment.
Environmental measures are built into all contracts with suppliers and the Agency works closely in partnership with environmental organisations to make sure that it minimises the effect of its roads on the environment.
The Agency's soft estate - the areas of verge between the road and the highway boundary fence - provides a valuable habitat for wildlife which needs to be carefully managed. The Agency will shortly publish a biodiversity action plan setting targets for maintaining and enhancing the variety of flora and fauna on its soft estate over the next 10 years. This will improve on the position as at the end of March 2001 when the Agency had about a third of its network under active biodiversity management.
The Agency now manages nearly 70% of its network under active landscape management plans and it is the second-largest planter of broad-leaved native trees in the country after Forest Enterprise (formerly the Forestry Commission).
Urban areas are not neglected. The Agency's landscaping programme on the A50 in Stoke-on-Trent won an award from the British Association of Landscaping Industries for design and planting work in November 2000.
Traffic noise can have a major impact on the quality of life of those who live close to busy parts of the network. The Agency is addressing these problems by carrying out noise mitigation measures including earthen mounds (known as 'bunds'), special acoustic barriers, installing double-glazing and noise insulation on new schemes as well as existing problem sites. Low noise surfacing is used for all resurfacing except where environmental factors dictate otherwise. In addition, there is a programme to treat some noisy locations which meet specific criteria from a list presented to Parliament (known as 'Hansard' sites). The Agency treated seven sites from this list in 2000/01, spending £4.4 million on cost-effective noise reduction measures.
The Highways Agency soft estate provides a valuable habitat for wildlife
Road lighting accounts for the Agency's biggest use of electricity and can cause light pollution, disturbing both local residents and nocturnal wildlife. Following deregulation of the utility companies, the Agency awarded a 12-month contract to Eastern Electricity that started on 1 April 2000. This used energy from renewable sources and has saved the taxpayer £2 million. To reduce light pollution, the Agency has installed environmentally-friendly lighting on the M1 near Nottingham which projects a more natural, golden-white glow and also focuses the light down on to the road.
As part of the No Man's Heath and Macefen Bypass on the A41 in Cheshire, ecologists devised measures to protect great-crested newts, which are now protected from the works by a special fence. In addition to this, the Agency is working to enhance the area's extensive run of badger sets.
Case study: Bat colonies on the A66 Stainburn/Great Clifton bypass
Ingenious measures were taken to avoid disruption to bats living in trees in Upper Park near Stainburn, Cumbria when it was necessary to fell some of these trees for work to start on a new bypass for the A66 around Stainburn and Great Clifton. This scheme will have huge benefits to residents by removing 75-80% of through-traffic from local villages.
Camouflage nets that recreate the natural habitat of the bats have been installed to provide a link between the two halves of the wood where the trees have been felled. These fool the bats' sonar, which would otherwise detect the gap in the trees, into thinking that the tree line remains unbroken. This means that they continue to use the whole forest for feeding.
Common Pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
Chapter 6 Improving the Network
Targeting the areas where improvements are needed most
Indicator
To achieve by the end of the year no less than x% of the TPI scheme milestones listed in the Highways Agency's 2000/01 Business Plan
Target
90%
Performance
96%
The recently-completed final section (between Denton and Middleton) of the M60 Manchester outer ring road
The targeted programme of improvements (TPI) is a programme of major schemes (costing £5million or more) aimed at addressing some of the most serious problems on the Agency's network. These schemes will provide safer and healthier communities and support regeneration, integration and the economy. The programme also includes a major scheme near Stonehenge to improve the setting of this ancient monument.
In March 2001 the Government announced eight new additions to the TPI, bringing the total number of schemes to 49 at a value of nearly £1.9 billion. This has now increased to 50 with the addition of the A483 Pant-Llanymynech Bypass. The Agency is investigating ways of speeding up the delivery of these schemes, including developing ways to let contracts more quickly, public consultation at an earlier stage and using the same company to design and build the scheme. The Agency is also looking at options for streamlining the tendering process.
In 2000/01 the Agency invested a total of £480 million in these major schemes, including £202 million in public/private partnerships, meeting 23 out of 24 milestone targets. These included completion of the Manchester outer ring road with the opening of the final section of the M60 between Denton and Middleton.
During the year the Agency awarded 12 new contracts.
One was a £17.2 million scheme to build a new dual carriageway bypass to the north of Polegate in East Sussex. When it opens to traffic in 2002,it will remove heavy through-traffic from Polegate, making it cleaner and safer and improving the quality of life for local residents. It will also aid regeneration in the Eastbourne area.
The Agency has ensured - as with all its major construction schemes - that extensive environmental mitigation measures are integrated into the new road. Much of the bypass will be in a cutting to reduce noise and visual intrusion, and will be planted with 100,000 native trees and shrubs.
In east London, the Agency awarded a contract for the privately-financed A13 Thames Gateway project to relieve congestion, improve safety and open east-west access to the Docklands, Lower Lea Valley and other parts of the area. This £200 million project, which passed to Transport for London in July 2000, is the first public/private partnership to upgrade, operate and maintain an urban road.
Among the eight new TPI schemes announced in March 2001, is one to improve the A3 in Surrey. A new dual carriageway will bypass the village of Hindhead and benefit the local environment by putting through traffic in a 1.7 km (1.1 miles) twin-bored tunnel under Hindhead Common. The tunnel will take traffic away from the Devil's Punchbowl, a site of special scientific interest, and unite areas of National Trust land currently separated by the A3.
In the future TPI schemes could emerge from the Government Office led multi-modal studies now being carried out. New roads or major improvements proposed by these studies will be considered by regional transport bodies and assessed against criteria that look at each individual scheme's potential contribution to integration, safety, the environment, accessibility and the economy.
Case study: A1 Darrington to Dishforth DBFO
By 2010, one quarter of the finance required for major road schemes will come from the private sector. The Agency now has eight privately-financed roads open to traffic, including the A50 Stoke/Derby link road and the M1/A1 link road near Leeds. There are two more in the TPI programme.
In December 2000, the Agency announced bidders for the A1 Darrington to Dishforth DBFO (design, build, finance and operate) project. This £200 million project involves upgrading 11 miles of the A1 between Ferrybridge and Hook Moor and a three-mile stretch between Wetherby and Walshford, and the operation and maintenance of the remaining section of the A1 between Darrington and Dishforth.
This pioneering new form of contract rewards the contractor for keeping traffic moving at an average speed. The simple payment mechanism gives the DBFO contractor an incentive to avoid congestion by maintaining the road to a high standard, managing the traffic with appropriate signing and speed limits and responding quickly to incidents. This will also have significant benefits for safety.
A1 Ferrybridge power station, Yorkshire
Chapter 7 Listening to the Agency's Customers
Listening to the Agency's Customers
Modernising the Agency to deliver a better service
During the year, the Highways Agency Information Line responded to just over 50,000 customer calls
The Agency has a wide range of customers including road users, those who live alongside the network or are affected by it, its contractors and suppliers and its partners and stakeholders. The Agency is committed to providing a high quality service that focuses on the needs of its customers, whilst offering value for money to the taxpayer.
This means consulting with those affected by what the Agency does, treating them with courtesy and providing them with better information in order to provide them with the best possible service from the Agency's network.
Standards and targets for service to customers are set out in the Agency's Road Users' Charter (see Appendix 3). The Agency met all but one of its Road Users' Charter targets in 2000/01. The target to start salting roads two hours before ice and snow are expected was missed by just 1%.
During 2000/01 the Agency published the results of the 4th Road User Satisfaction Survey, which helps it to identify priorities for improvements to its services. This revealed that motorists felt safer on the network than two years ago, and more drivers felt that their last journey was free of congestion. Road users' main priority for the future was an improvement in the speed and efficiency of carrying out road works.
Results from the survey and consultation with the Road Users Committee led to publication of a new Road Users' Charter in November 2000, against which the Agency will report in 2001/02.
The Agency has been working more closely with DTLR, local authorities, Government Offices and other regional planning bodies, including regional development agencies, to take forward multi-modal, roads-based and other studies for the development of holistic transport solutions to regional problems.
The Agency is committed to improve communications with those who use and are affected by its roads.
During 2000/01, the Highways Agency Information Line responded to just over 50,000 calls from customers. The Agency continued to modernise it's website to provide better and more timely information and customers can now access real-time information about traffic conditions on the M25. The Agency also publishes leaflets about individual schemes and programmes of work, which are distributed to local residents and drivers.
Being accessible to the public is important. The road show in Leeds to explain the Agency's route management strategy for the M62 was well received by the public, as was a seminar held in October for 300 representatives of key stakeholders to launch Strategic Roads 2010, the Agency's response to the Government's 10 Year Plan.
The Agency is respected as a world-class network operator. It regularly meets, and forms partnerships with, highway authorities abroad to share expertise.
Modernising the Agency
During the year the Agency has continued to reshape the operational side of its business into four regions - the North, the Midlands, the South-East and the South-West - to match more closely with Government Office boundaries. This will help to offer a more joined-up service to customers in each region. The Agency's internal structure has also been changed to improve the way it delivers it's business.
A new Network Strategy Directorate is responsible for the strategic development of the network over the medium to long-term, and for forging stronger links with the Agency's network and planning partners, such as the police, regional planning bodies and local authorities.
The Operations Directorate looks after short-term planning and the delivery of projects, and acts as a first point of contact for customers for the Agency's day-to-day operational work.
The Corporate Directorate maintains the momentum of corporate change, improving the Agency's long-term planning and is the focus for communications and external relations, including a customer champion to help it to become more customer-focused.
As the Agency contracts out most of its services, it is vital that it is at the forefront of procurement practice. The Agency focused its expertise in the new Procurement Directorate.
Following the successful transfer of the Agency's trunk roads in London to Transport for London when the Greater London Authority came into being in July 2000, the Agency is in the process of moving most of its services closer to its customers and suppliers in the regions. Only the Highways Agency Board and a small core of staff will remain in London, close to Ministers.
The Highways Agency's stand at the Coach and Bus show
The Agency has made good progress overall with its programme for Better Quality Service Reviews (BQSR) and has met the individual milestones in the programme. All businesses (at directorate or divisional level) have identified their high level activities, have completed or prepared for EFQM Excellence Model self assessment as to how well they carried out their activity and many have planned and implemented improvement projects. Businesses have made good use of the improvement stage of the programme to prepare for external comparison from a position of strength. The Agency is on target to complete reviews by April 2004.
The Agency is proud of the skills and dedication of its people and is committed to developing these further to give staff the tools they need to provide a better service. This was recognised by the Agency being awarded Investors in People accreditation in October 2000. The Agency is committed to maintaining this standard.
Training will continue to be important; in 2000/01 the Agency introduced a leadership development programme to encourage those of its staff with the potential to become senior managers.
The Agency is continuing to embed resource accounting and budgeting into its business by introducing a new computerised system which will provide an improved accounting system and aid its business planning and reporting processes.