Highways Agency

Supporting our service

Teamwork

Our approach in 2002-03

We are one of the country's major public sector clients, procuring the majority of our services from external suppliers, all of whom we work with closely on a day-to-day basis. When delivering improvements to our services and the network we work closely with a wide range of partners and stakeholders including:

• The police, who work alongside us to manage traffic, deal with incidents and minimise delays.
• Regional Planning Bodies, Government Offices, Regional Development Agencies and Local Authorities, with whom we work as part of local and regional planning processes.
• The Department for Transport and other departmental agencies, such as Driving Standards Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, all of whom we work with on safety initiatives.
• Other transport providers such as, the Strategic Rail Authority, Network Rail, British Waterways and others, who work with us on integrated transport initiatives.
• The users of our network including the freight, coach and bus industries and motoring organisations.
• The media, which provide travel information about conditions on the network.

We thank them all for their continuing support.

Case study The Commonwealth Games

The 17th Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester in July 2002 and the Highways Agency was part of the team that made the event an outstanding success. Area Manager Dave Grunwell and project sponsor Craig Bedson met with the Games organisers well in advance to discuss the transport strategy – promoting public transport to the event and encouraging drivers to use park and ride facilities. The Agency worked with its contractors, Atkins and Amey Mouchel, to design and install special signs on the network and at key locations, including park and ride sites and major venues in and around the city. Volunteers from our Manchester office also assisted by taking on various tasks such as athlete's marshal, flag bearer, driver and transport assistant. All their efforts helped to make one of the largest sporting events held in the UK a resounding success.

During 2002-03 we became the first Government Construction client to be awarded Chartered Client status under the Client's Charter Scheme operated by the Confederation of Construction Clients. We also started the implementation of Early Contractor Involvement contracts which have been well received by industry and have been adopted by other construction clients both here in the UK and abroad.

Looking to the future

Over the next three years we aim to:

• Continue to implement the review of police and Agency roles and responsibilities for strategic road management, working in partnership with the police.
• Develop further strategic partnerships with the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Roads Authority.
• Carry out rolling Partnership Satisfaction Surveys to establish how effective we are at working in partnership and how our partners view us, with a new target introduced for 2003-04.
• Work alongside regional partners to review Regional Transport Strategies.
• Develop Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deliver the 10 Year Plan target to privately finance 25% of current and new major schemes.
• Speed up delivery times for new road schemes.
• Extend the use of new forms of contract to deliver best value and seek to address the skills shortage in the industry.
• Develop relationships with suppliers to ensure they can deliver best value and maintain high standards.
• Measure our procurement performance and show improvement through our registration with the Client's Charter Scheme operated by the Confederation of Construction Clients.
• Measure our performance in managing contracts by using 360 degree reporting with our supply partners.
• Contribute to cross-Government initiatives, for example on road safety education programmes.
• Continue to build close relations with the media to keep travellers informed.

Improvement

Research and Development into Network Improvements

Our approach and results in 2002-03

Research is the key source of new ideas, knowledge, tools and technologies that provide innovative solutions to meet customer needs. For the Highways Agency, research is primarily undertaken to support operational needs, with particular emphasis given to reducing congestion, improving safety, providing better information, promoting sustainability and delivering value for money. Research is also undertaken to support our regulatory role, for example, the development of new and updated standards and advice notes incorporated in the Agency's Design Manual for Roads and Bridges.

The research and development programme for 2002-03 had almost 200 individual projects, across the full range of our activities, with a budget of £11 million.

Traditionally, much of our research has been civil engineering/materials based, to support the organisation's former primary role as a road builder/ maintainer. However, the five year objective for research and development stated in the Highways Agency's Corporate Plan (published in 2001), gave a commitment to change the balance of the research and development programme from asset management to traffic management, to support the development of the wider network operator role. In response to this commitment, the proportion of asset-based research has fallen from over 50% in 2000-01 to around 40% in 2003-04. As a result, research into themes, such as reducing congestion, improving safety, and reducing environmental impact, have increased.

Case study Glass on the road

The Agency has been testing an unusual road maintenance material – crushed glass! 'Glasphalt' developed by RMC Aggregates, mixes crushed recycled glass, from bottle banks, with conventional bitumen and aggregate. This material is then used, in place of conventional aggregates, in the layer beneath the road surface.

Following successful trials on minor road schemes, the material will be used on forthcoming resurfacing works on the M6 in Cheshire. It is estimated that recycled glass equivalent to 14 million empty bottles will be used in the work. Our research has delivered a number of innovative improvements for use on the network. Examples include:

• Development of quiet surfacing systems.
• Further development of the Highways Agency Pavement Management System for managing road maintenance.
• Rapid assessment techniques for earth works.
• Use of recycled materials in road construction.
• New materials for bridge construction.
• Technologies to support active traffic management.
• Improved driver information (e.g. Variable Message Signs, real-time video).
• Development of the Biodiversity Action Plan.

Extensive consultation with all stakeholders and our staff is essential to ensure the research programme remains relevant and focused, that research is not duplicated elsewhere, and opportunities for collaborative research are identified and developed. Principal consultees include DfT research programme managers, Local Authority road owners/operators, the highway authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the rest of Europe and research partners in industry and academia. Effective consultation with other UK highway authorities takes place through the Roads liaison Group and its constituent Boards.

Looking to the future

Changes and improvements to our research procedures are planned over the coming year, including:

• Improved access to past research, through enhancements to the Research Compendium website.
• Implementation of the DfT publication and assessment schemes for research.
• Better evaluation of financial and other benefits resulting from the implementation of past research.
• Increased use of collaborative research, with both UK and overseas partners.
• Improved management of the research programme, using appropriate performance indicators.
• Improved consultation with our operational staf, Highways Agency Managing Agents and others, particularly with regard to new ideas for research.

Improving our Internal Business Processes

Our approach and results in 2002-03

With responsibility for operating a public asset valued at over £65 billion, we are embracing best practice management processes through a continuing programme of business improvement initiatives. During 2002-03 we significantly developed our strategic framework including a full review of our aim, objectives and corporate values.

We also developed a more balanced approach to the way we plan and manage our performance. The approach uses the 'Balanced Scorecard' concept which provides us with an improved framework for developing performance requirements across the Agency's business.

We have also made use of the Better Quality Services commitment to review customer requirements and to ensure that we have consistent and efficient processes in place to meet them. These processes range from business planning to development and training and include a quality management system (QMS) for our Operations Directorate, which is operated through our intranet. We have developed a robust approach to benchmarking and have identified best practice in many areas including network strategy development and health and safety management.

Click to enlarge image

Looking to the future

We are making progress in developing Quality Management Systems (QMS) for our Directorates within a corporate framework. Our main focus during 2004-05 will be a QMS for our new Traffic Operations Directorate2 to provide procedural guidance and compliance control for our new traffic management functions. We will also be developing our existing working processes to enable and support the new requirement for a round-the-clock service on the road network.

During 2002-03 we have developed our strategic planning framework. This included a review of our purpose and objectives and a new set of values was also developed. These underpin the cultural changes that are required to deliver our increasing role and responsibilities. Our values represent the behaviours required from staff when undertaking work supporting each of our objectives. There is currently a programme of work within the Agency to embed its values throughout the organisation.

To help us prioritise our objectives and in order to align our strategies to being more customer focused we have adopted a balanced scorecard approach to improving our performance. This is the start of a journey to delivering better outcomes for the customer and to become a more motivated and committed organisation.

Diversity

Encouraging diversity in our workforce

Our approach and results in 2002-03

We ran a number of large recruitment schemes during the year, wherever practical brigading together jobs with similar competence requirements into single 'generic' exercise, with the aim of speeding up the recruitment process and improving efficiency. In addition to these exercises we have run individual job specific schemes for specialist posts and graduate recruitment schemes.

We have taken a number of initiatives to encourage diversity in our workforce and our Bristol personnel teams specialises in developing diversity policies and best practice in this key area. We have set up links with a range of organisations that offer advice and support on attracting a diverse pool of candidates in our recruitment campaigns. We have commissioned an external consultant to equality proof our generic campaigns and are developing an action plan to implement the recommendations from this report. We have received confirmation that our recruitment literature, core competencies and selection processes are diversity friendly but we recognise we need to do more to change the profile of our organisation and meet the Government's diversity targets.

Click to view Figure 6.2 Diversity in the Highways Agency

Looking to the future

In 2003-04 we have been set challenging targets to recruit staff to deliver our new approach to traffic management. This work is likely to require very different skill sets to those of our existing staff. Following consultation with trade union colleagues, we expect to implement a new selection procedure and continue our work to ensure our recruitment and selection processes and working practices meet business needs and reflect best practice.

Supporting our staff through training and development

Our approach and results in 2002-03

During 2002-03, the development and training functions were smoothly migrated from our London office to Birmingham, without a fall in the standard of service. We also ran an internal Leadership Development Scheme, and recruited staff onto the Public Service Leaders Scheme, and Pathways (a programme designed to encourage the development of ethnic minority staff), both sponsored by the Cabinet Office. We have also maintained progress on retaining our Investors in People (IiP) accreditation by training 12 of our staff to become IiP internal reviewers. Their reviews will be monitored by our external assessor who will also conduct his own reviews with both the HA Board and the Trade Unions.

Looking to the future

In line with continuous improvement for IiP, we are reviewing our induction process and our core training programme to ensure it provides courses that properly address what the business needs, and fully incorporates our values. We are also aiming to improve our links with universities to increase the diversity of new entrants to the Agency. A key theme for 2003-04 is to build on the leadership skills in the Agency by providing further development for all senior managers, including Divisional Directors and the Board. A further challenge is to develop a full range of training and development to support the introduction of the new traffic roles that will come on stream from April 2004.

Regionalisation – Getting nearer to our customers and partners

Our approach and results in 2002-03

To improve the service to our regional customers we have continued to move the majority of London posts to our regional offices. A migration team was set up to facilitate the movement of staff with their posts and to help to redeploy staff who were unable to leave London. By March 2003 the number of permanent staff in London had been reduced from 600 to 214. To help with re-deployment the team advertised cross-Civil Service vacancies to staff on a weekly basis, and ensured that staff had priority access to vacancies elsewhere in the Department for Transport and in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. All staff were provided with one to one assistance via dedicated case workers, and a number of initiatives were run during the year including career development workshops, curriculum vitae writing training courses and recruitment fairs attended by a wide range of other Government departments.

Looking to the future

The majority of staff have since migrated to regional offices or have been redeployed. Approximately 90 staff are now permanently based in the Agency's new London Corporate Centre at 123 Buckingham Palace Road in Victoria.

Health, safety and welfare of our workforce

Our approach and results in 2002-03

The Department for Transport determines our Health and Safety Policy but we supplement this through health and safety notices covering staff activities both in the office and on site. Our programme is delivered through our Office Safety Advisers and our Site Safety Advisers, whose responsibilities are to provide and maintain safe work places and to determine safe practices across the wide spectrum of work undertaken by our employees. The recent formation of a discrete Health, Safety and Welfare Team emphasises the continuing commitment we have towards our obligations in protecting our staff.

We also have a well-defined occupational stress policy. Staff are regularly surveyed and we include questions to establish their perceptions of pressure imposed upon them and to identify any trends or 'hotspots'. Information from surveys are collated and analysed to produce guidance on the key messages that came from our staff in the survey. To better support our people in managing stress we have issued best practice guidance for the management of stress personally and as a line manager. Directors have also been provided with practical guidance to assist them in acting as role models and mobilising the commitment of their teams to ensure staff have meaningful and fulfilling work.

All staff have access to the Counselling and Support Service (CSS). In a recent staff survey over 85% of staff knew of the existence of this service and that they could take it up at any time. All new staff receive information about the CSS during induction. Their services are also advertised prominently on staff notice boards. We also have a number of Harassment Control Officers, supported by Personnel Managers, who are available to give confidential support and help to staff that feel they are being harassed, bullied or victimised in any way.

Looking to the future

We will be undertaking future audits to monitor the perceived levels of stress. Work is ongoing to identify appropriate interventions and solutions. We will also improve our attendance management policy enabling managers to take a more pro-active role in monitoring attendance. This is likely to include the use of back to work interviews and better management information about the reasons for absence. We are committed to reviewing our health and safety policy statement and the content of the Safety Notices in the next 12 months and to consider the adoption of an auditable health and safety management system. We will also continue to ensure our staff are supported and have access to professional help in terms of stress management and more general welfare when required.

Best Value

Corporate Governance

Our approach and results in 2002-03

Corporate Governance is defined by HM Treasury as 'The system by which the Accounting Officers carry out their responsibilities for ensuring that effective management systems, including financial monitoring and control systems, have been put in place'. Our system is described in our 'Statement on Internal Control' in the Accounts at Appendix 8. During the year we made a number of improvements to our system of internal control including:

• The appointment of two Non-Executive Directors to the HA Board (Gordon Bateman and Philippa Foster Back) in line with the recommendations of the Higgs Report.
• A self-assessment by our Audit Committee resulting in an action plan to improve effectiveness.
• Development and improvement of risk management processes to implement the latest guidance from HM Treasury.

Looking to the future

The Agency will be reviewing the terms of reference of the Board, the Capital Investment Committee, the Audit Committee, the Change Development Group, the Planning and Performance Development Group and the Performance Management Group. This will result in a clearer picture of the roles of these bodies and their inter-relationships. Work will also be undertaken to scope the requirement for a Corporate Governance framework to help the Agency develop a more compliant culture.

Implementation of the new System for Managing (SfM) will also continue, enabling the Agency to manage its purchasing, inventory, accounting processes and programmes more effectively. These processes are now in use in the Agency, with Phase 1 of the project implemented in May 2002 and supported by specialist computer software. Phase 2 of the project, which adds new processes for business planning and reporting, was implemented in November 2003.

Managing our Property Portfolio

Our approach and results in 2002-03

Our targets for 2002-03 were to ensure that the percentage of residential properties that are empty at the end of the year were not to exceed 15% of the total residential portfolio and that the percentage of habitable residential properties empty for more than six months at the end of the year not to exceed 3% of the residential portfolio. Both targets were met with only 11% of the residential portfolio empty at the end of the year and 0.7% of habitable properties empty for more than 6 months.

Looking to the future

Our property portfolio will be managed to ensure that we minimise the number of unoccupied houses, increase the rental income to an appropriate level and safeguard the value of our properties.

These internal targets will ensure that we are effectively overseeing our Managing Agents, presenting a more professional image to our customers and developing a more commercial approach. We also intend to develop our Social Housing Provider initiative by partnering with housing corporations and authorities to provide social/affordable housing with particular emphasis on key workers as required within the wider Government agenda.

Managing our Budget

Our approach and results in 2002-03

The Government–wide implementation of Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) has changed the way the Agency plans, manages and reports on its business. RAB sees the government replacing its traditional cash accounting with commercial style accruals accounting. Previously, budget management and reporting was based on money paid; under RAB, expenditure is scored when the work is done not when cash is released. The final position of our budget, adjusted for in-year events, was agreed as part of DfT's Spring Supplementary Estimates. Financial performance against budget is shown in the table at Figure 6.3.

Looking to the future

We will achieve a target of having effective business processes and resource management systems and are taking a number of key actions to ensure that our new financial management system works efficiently to provide timely in-year and year-end management and accounting information. We will further improve our forecasting performance.

Click to view Figure 6.3 Performance against budget in 2002-03

Paying our suppliers promptly

Our approach and results in 2002-03

Under the Prompt Payment Initiative, we set a target of paying 98% of all invoices within terms. Our overall performance for the year was a disappointing 79.38%, well below our annual target. During 2002, we introduced the System for Managing (SfM) which included a new accounting tool. This completely changed the way in which invoices were dealt with. The system became fully automated which meant setting up new processes to deal with electronic approval and receipting of invoices. As with all new systems, teething problems ensued and payment of invoices was affected.

Looking to the future

As part of the embedding process for the SfM, we have developed an action plan to improve our performance in this area; over 95% of all invoices are now processed through the Purchase to Pay module within SfM and the business is now getting to grips with these new processes and showing strong signs of improvement.