Highways Agency

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.