Highways Agency

Executive Summary

As part of the implementation of the Government's 10 Year Plan for Transport, the Highways Agency is working closely with Police and local highway authorities to strengthen the way in which England's Motorway and Trunk Road network (the core network) is managed. The National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC), which commenced operation in November 2003, was introduced to reduce the effects of congestion on England's core network caused by traffic related incidents and planned events, by informing the travelling public about current network conditions.

Building on this, the Traffic Management Act 2004 made provision for the Agency to carry out some of the traffic management functions on motorways and trunk roads, which until now have only been carried out by the Police. Consequently, a national network of Regional Control Centres (RCCs) is being established. These RCCs, which will be operated in partnership with the Police, will assist in the management of planned and unplanned events on the network. The Traffic Management Act also places a network management duty on Local Highway Authorities (LHAs) to secure the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority's road network and to facilitate the efficient movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority is the traffic authority. Each LHA must appoint a Traffic Manager to be responsible for implementing the provisions of the Act as they apply to the local authority. For consistency, the Agency will respond in a similar manner to LHAs in the identification of the role of a Traffic Manager.

It is clear, therefore, that the Agency and the LHAs share many common objectives in the management of their respective portions of the road network, and more importantly, they must work together to ensure that disruptions to the travelling public are minimised in situations where traffic events can affect both authorities. The NTCC, RCCs and other Agency operational units will work in close partnership with each other and with other organisations involved in the management of the Local Highway Authority Network as well as the core network. This includes LHAs, the Police, other highway authorities, other network operators, information service providers and many others.

This National Guidance Framework (NGF) establishes the basis of the operational partnership required between the Agency and LHAs. It reflects the principles that the Traffic Operations Coordinating Committee (TOCC) Executive recommends for adoption by individual LHAs in their Detailed Local Operating Agreements (DLOAs) and covers issues of national significance and policy related to the operation of the NTCC and RCCs. Underneath this NGF, DLOAs agreed with local authorities over 2002/03 will continue to evolve to reflect local circumstances, and to this end, a revised model DLOA is in preparation, as a reference for subsequent review discussions. The maintenance of these operational partnerships is crucial to the success of continued operations. The NGF addresses each of the operational areas in which the parties are expected to interact and provides guidelines as to how this should be achieved. The process whereby the NGF and DLOAs are to be reviewed and revised is also described.

Individual LHAs and their representative bodies continue to be involved in the development of this NGF and their invaluable assistance is very much appreciated. The work that LHAs have put into the DLOAs is also recognised and appreciated. The sustained objective is to build on the positive, day-to-day close relationships between the Agency and the LHAs and others to provide a seamless service to our mutual customer, the travelling public.